That classic McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) hamburger appears to be one of the few things that people around the world have found they can't do without during a recession. Ronald McDonald and his iconic golden arches have seen customers continue to throw down their hard-earned money for Big Macs, fries, and icy beverages. In this kind of environment, it'd be tough for shareholders to be anything but happy with the company's first-quarter earnings.
But you won't find too many surprised members of The Motley Fool's CAPS community -- the stock has held a pretty consistent four-star rating (out of a possible five) thanks to more than 3,900 outperform ratings from the community. CAPS member TheGMaster has been on top of McDonald's stock like few others in the CAPS community.
This player flipped a thumb up on the stock way back in June 2006, a timely call that's scored more than 100 points to date.
TheGMaster is one of CAPS' All-Stars -- players with a rating of 80 or greater -- and has managed a stock-picking accuracy of 54%, while racking up more than 700 points. McDonald's isn't this player's only great call. Here's a look at a few of the other prescient picks:
|
Company
|
Date Picked
|
Call
|
Points
|
CAPS Rating
|
|
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL )
|
6/15/06
|
Outperform
|
150
|
***
|
|
Southern Copper (NYSE: PCU )
|
6/15/06
|
Outperform
|
114
|
*****
|
|
Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq: BWLD )
|
3/5/08
|
Outperform
|
97
|
***
|
Data from CAPS.
So what is this investor looking at these days? Here are a few of the most recent calls on CAPS:
|
Company
|
Date Picked
|
Call
|
CAPS Rating
|
|
Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG )
|
5/6/09
|
Outperform
|
****
|
|
Diageo (NYSE: DEO )
|
2/20/09
|
Outperform
|
*****
|
|
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT )
|
1/22/09
|
Outperform
|
***
|
Data from CAPS.
While not all of these picks may pan out, they could be a good place to start further research. I decided to take a closer look at Diageo.
Drink it in
"I love Guiness, Crown and dividends so this stock was a natural for me," said CAPS All-Star Jiffylush recently. And with that one line, Jiffylush did a great job summarizing the case for Diageo.
This 800-pound beverage gorilla owns some of the world's top brands. In addition to Guinness and Crown Royal, it lays claim to powerhouses including Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Baileys, Captain Morgan, and Tanqueray. The strength of these brands has helped the company consistently generate solid cash flow, which the company has directed toward shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks.
Of course Jiffylush isn't the only CAPS member who's been bullish on Diageo. In all, more than 2,100 CAPS members -- including yours truly -- have given the stock a thumbs-up. Among those thousands of bulls, you'll find CAPS' top-ranking member, tenmiles, who pitched earlier this year:
I like Diageo as a defensive play and likely market beater on a total return basis over the next few years. Valutation metrics are in line with its peer group, while the balance sheet is strong enough to support very attractive dividend yield north of 6%. Leadership positions within a wide variety of spirits; also has some "low end" lines, which should continue to do well if drinkers trade down. ...
Worst case scenario - their 10 year old Johnnie Walter inventory becomes 12 year old and they sell it for more profit - seems like a good business model for these recessionary times
But here's the important question: What's your take on Diageo? Will it show its strength in the face of recession? Get in the action by clicking over to CAPS. It's absolutely free and CAPS already has more than 130,000 stock pickers chipping in to find the best stocks out there.
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