6 Cash Cows That Show Dad the Money

By Colleen Paulson | More Articles
June 13, 2008 | Comments (1)

Forget the golf clubs! We have some great investment ideas Foolishly wrapped up in this special series for Father’s Day.

It's time to face the truth. Whisper it or shout it, but just admit it. Dad did know what he was talking about. Perhaps your dad is like mine, abiding by "old-school" money values that don't always get a rousing reception from the young: Save for a rainy day. Don't spend what you don't have. …

This Father's Day, why not consider stocks with solid balance sheets for Dad? These stocks have zero (or at least very little) long-term debt and high levels of cash. Mix in some cutting-edge technologies, and these companies may have exactly what your dad is looking for in a Father's Day gift.

If your dad is a tech guy, then he's always looking for the latest gadget. But instead of buying him a Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN ) GPS navigation device, consider purchasing a few shares of the company's stock. Besides meeting our no-debt and strong cash balance criteria, Garmin is one of the Fool's Best Stocks of 2008 and is currently priced at a discounted price-to-earnings ratio of 11.9.

Does your dad like to play video games? Then Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS ) may be right up his alley. Electronic Arts may have posted recent losses, but it is hoarding $1.5 billion (or 40% of annual revenue) in its cash coffers. Think about Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM ) , hovering near its 52-week high, for those BlackBerry-obsessed dads out there.

Of course, a new iPhone may be the apple of your father's eye, but maybe he'd prefer a share or two of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL ) stock. Apple continues to stockpile cash and short-term investments (more than $19 billion through March 2008) throughout its sustained double-digit sales growth.

If your dad is a real tech nerd, then maybe he'd prefer shares of Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU ) or Google (Nasdaq: GOOG ) . Both of these stocks share high growth prospects, no long-term debt, and oodles of money on-hand.

Your dad deserves something for all of his great financial advice. Why not buy him some stock this Father's Day? Or at least forward this article to him, so you can give him some investing advice for once!

Related Foolishness:

Check out the Fool's Father's Day gift list from last year.

Best Odds in the Universe!
If you're interested in a 98.79% chance at beating the market... and a 70.84% chance at DOUBLING the market's return – Motley Fool Supernova could be just what you're looking for. And get this: We arrived at these odds from 10,000 random back-tested portfolios composed of Motley Fool Co-founder David Gardner's personal stock picks.

It's why David recently handpicked a small team of world-class portfolio managers. You see, he thinks these odds can get even better! And he'd like to prove it to you...

Simply enter your email address. And the answer to the question everybody is asking will be delivered to your inbox!

Garmin is a Motley Fool Global Gains pick. Baidu.com is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation. Garmin, Electronic Arts, and Apple are Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

Fool contributor Colleen Paulson does not own any of the stocks cited in this article and thanks her dad for his wise financial advice. The Fool's disclosure policy keeps its piggy bank full.

Read/Post Comments (1) | Recommend This Article (4)

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On June 13, 2008, at 1:01 PM, kenkip wrote:

Actually, I think that Apple has more than $19 Billion in cash. Not $9 Billion.

Add your comment.

Compare Brokers

Fool Disclosure

DocumentId: 664507, ~/Articles/ArticleHandler.aspx, 2/14/2012 11:52:46 PM

Report This Comment

Use this area to report a comment that you believe is in violation of the community guidelines. Our team will review the entry and take any appropriate action.

Sending report...

Today's Market

updated 1 hour ago Sponsored by:
	DOW	12,878.28	4.24	0.03%
	S&P 500	1,350.50	-1.27	-0.09%
	NASD	2,931.83	0.44	0.02%

Create My Watchlist

Go to My Watchlist

You don't seem to be following any stocks yet!

Better investing starts with a watchlist. Now you can create a personalized watchlist and get immediate access to the personalized information you need to make successful investing decisions.

Data delayed up to 5 minutes