This article is part of our Rising Star Portfolios series.
There are some investing gurus out there who might encourage you to buy special software that will tell you which stocks to buy and which ones to sell. We do things differently here. At the Fool, our analysts dig deeply into the fundamentals of a company before they'd ever consider recommending it to our community members.
Let's look at Rising Star Jason Moser's most recent buy recommendation as an example. First, he spent considerable time researching and analyzing a solid insurance company that had caught his attention. Then he pitched this compelling investing idea to a roomful of Foolish advisors and analysts from our premium services. Only after this process, did he purchase shares of the company for his portfolio. Below, you can learn more about that recommendation, along with summaries of two other Rising Star picks from the past week.
Rising Star Buy: White Mountains Insurance Group
Jason Moser is always on the hunt for well-run companies with promising long-term prospects. This week he feels he found such a company in White Mountains Insurance Group (NYSE: WTM).
Jason's thesis for this one is simple. With economic conditions improving, insurance companies will likely perform much better over the next few years. White Mountains Insurance Group, which Jason feels is undervalued by around 17%, should do quite well as a result. Be sure to read his article to learn of the catalysts will send White Mountains' shares higher.
Rising Star Buy: Ford
Do you know that shares of Ford (NYSE: F) are up tenfold since the dark days of the financial crisis in 2008? Like Jason, the American auto industry is back, although this time, it has shed its gruesome balance sheets.
Despite this dramatic turnaround, Rising Star analyst Jim Mueller thinks shares of Ford still have room to run, and this week, he purchased shares of the company for his Messed-Up Expectations Portfolio.
Jim believes that Ford will be able to take advantage of pent-up consumer demand, while continuing its commitment to improving margins and growth. He also likes the fact that Ford has been able to grow sales while reducing incentives. That's in stark contrast to competitors GM (NYSE: GM) and Honda, which have used increases in incentives to drive sales over the past year. To read more of Jim's insightful analysis, check out his entire article.
Rising Star Buy: Range Resources
This week, Jordan DiPietro bought shares of Range Resources (NYSE: RRC), an oil and gas exploration company, for his portfolio. Jordan believes that this company might be a perfect way to play a possible increase in natural gas prices.
Both ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and BP (NYSE: BP) have released reports recently that predict that natural gas is "going to surge." As Jordan notes, "it's not 'if', but 'when.'" With natural gas usage expected to increase by 2.1% per year over the next 20 years, Range Resources should do well as a result. For more on this well-managed company, read Jordan's article.
A profound reason to invest
This week there was considerable buzz around one of our Rising Star picks, Madison Square Garden (NYSE: MSG). As many of you may know, the New York Knicks, a property of MSG, acquired Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets. Some investors hope the trade will ultimately increase the value of shares of MSG.
Was this an important event in the overall scheme of things? Um, no. But it was very enjoyable for shareholders of MSG (like me), and it made me realize why I like investing so much. It's fun.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter to get all of the latest Rising Star picks. And click on the links below to follow the companies mentioned above.
- Add White Mountains Insurance Group to My Watchlist
- Add Ford to My Watchlist
- Add Range Resources to My Watchlist
- Add Madison Square Garden to My Watchlist
This article is part of our Rising Star Portfolios series, where we give some of our most promising stock analysts cold, hard cash to manage on the Fool's behalf. We'd like you to track our performance and benefit from these real-money, real-time free stock picks. See all of our Rising Star analysts (and their portfolios).
