This article is part of our Rising Star Portfolios series.
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies' fundamental value. That's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. Better yet, you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home run stocks that provide the market's best returns.
We can help you keep tabs on your companies with MyWatchlist.com, our free, personalized stock tracking service. Here are three stocks from my watchlist.
1. CAPS Weekly Top Stock Idea: Baltic Trading (NYSE: BALT)
Each week, I cull a top stock idea from the pitches made on CAPS, The Motley Fool's 170,000-member free investing community. Baltic Trading, a pick from October, caught my eye since its shares had fallen from where it was picked. Baltic Trading, a spinoff of Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK), has a new fleet purchased with cash from its IPO and a cash infusion from Genco, which retained 26% of the company. The best part is that Baltic Trading had only around $70 million in long-term debt as of Sept. 30, 2010, a far cry from shippers such as DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS) and Eagle Bulk Shipping (Nasdaq: EGLE) whose balance sheets are stuffed with billions in debt.
To see the pitch selected for CAPS' Weekly Top Stock Idea, click here. If you want to follow my weekly picks, you can subscribe to the series' RSS feed or follow on Twitter: @CAPSTopStocks.
- Add Baltic Shipping & Trading to My Watchlist.
2. Sirius XM (Nasdaq: SIRI)
After having risen more than 30 times since its lows in 2009, it's hard to ignore Sirius XM, the nation's only satellite radio company. I have gone as far as to call the company unbeatable, with its moat coming from its huge network of 20 million subscribers and no direct competitors. At this price I'm not willing to jump in, as there's no margin of safety, but with a pullback I'd be tempted.
- Add Sirius XM to My Watchlist.
3. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (Nasdaq: JOSB)
Jos. A. Bank sells men's clothing around the U.S. and is a top-notch retailer with CEO Neal Black at the helm. The company has been earning roughly 20% returns on equity for the past seven years -- no small feat. The company has no debt and roughly $6.45 per share in cash. Netting out the cash, you have a company trading at just over 12 times earnings. For a top-notch retailer, that's a pretty great price.
- Add Jos. A. Bank Clothiers to My Watchlist.
My Foolish bottom line
If you're looking for more information on these companies, keep checking in on my Rising Star portfolio in the coming weeks as I look further into each of them.
