Keeping your portfolio afloat in these markets is no easy task. As more and more companies find themselves whipsawed by the whimsical musings of the Treasury Department or the Fed, investors who have successfully navigated these rough waters are increasingly rare. And a long track record of such steady steering is even more precious.
The All-Stars in our Motley Fool CAPS investor intelligence database have found themselves particularly adroit at shepherding their picks through these turbulent markets. CAPS has been successfully marking the performance of the best stocks for more than two years now. Let's look at some of the recent picks from this community's longtime investing mavens.
If these All-Stars have been able to maintain their top status through bull and bear markets alike, it might be worth watching their opinions on how stocks may perform in the months and years ahead:
Rowing against the current
Now that CEO Jerry Yang has agreed to step down as soon as a replacement can be found, the hopes of many Yahoo! investors remain pinned on Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) renewing its overtures for an acquisition. While Mr. Softy's CEO, Steve Ballmer, insists that ship has long sailed, other combinations may be in the offing. Search remains one potent area, though Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has been giggling over the prospects that a united effort by Mr. Softy and Yahoo! could even dent its preeminent position.
Shareholder activist Carl Icahn got a jump-start on his holiday shopping, going in and buying an additional 6.8 million shares of Yahoo! stock last week. That move boosted his ownership position to almost 5.5%. CAPS member BuffySoro hasn't given up yet on a Microsoft merger, believing Icahn wants a deal done just as badly as everyone else: "Yang has gone and Yahoo needs some help. I heard Steve Ballmer walks around with a pretty heavy war chest on these days... and Mr Icahn wants to get a deal done."
Not everyone is sold on a resurgent Yahoo! CAPS member youngblood58 admits the stock is cheap, but believes its structural defects will continue to depress its share price: "Yes, this stock is ultra cheap right now, but it's going to get worse before it gets better, IMO. Jerry Yang is finally out as CEO, and there might be a temporary uptick when the new CEO steps in, but Yahoo is hurting bad and are not in a position to take on competitors at this point."
Meanwhile, the debt picture at casino operator Las Vegas Sands leaves CAPS members thinking that the company has better odds of winning at the craps table than surviving the current credit crunch. jeffduby thinks Las Vegas Sands made bad bets buying real estate at the height of the bubble, and will crumble under the weight of its debt load:
Highly invested in real estate that was purchased at the peak of the market, the company is now up to it's eyeballs in debt. When the owner of the company is propping it up with his own cash you know it's bad. Gamble if you'd like though.
Similarly, CAPS member jester112358 thinks the souring economy will keep people from gambling their paychecks at its casinos, driving them instead to stock up on necessities:
With a debt to equity ratio of over 4:1, its hard to imagine how they will roll over their debt in a tight credit market. Also, cash flow will decrease as consumers pay for essentials other than gambling, such as cigarette smoking ... Besides, why not do your gambling in the capital markets by shorting another BK candidate like this one. You have better odds!
Ahoy there!
Whether you're been in the markets for years, or you're brand new to them, it pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page. Then tell CAPS community whether you think these old sea dogs still have the wind in their sails.
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