Hey net fools, this begins our look across various stock market sectors, as divided by the Wall Street Journal. Looking at 2008, these are the stocks in each sector that I think will do fantastic, and advise you to put on your watch lists. Starting our approach with the “consumer cyclical” sector, lets cut the sector into four groupings and get to it!

General Retailers – Jimvesting picks Best Buy (NYSE: BBY)

My 2008 cream of the crop here is Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), but I think there are plenty of other places to look! Gamestop (NYSE: GME) for one has given me tremendous growth for the holiday season. I saw it rise up in about a months time from $51 to $63! But I feel like that train has left the station already. Costco (NYSE: COST) you ask? Great, but right now it’s not their game to be won. Best Buy however is a strong buy, with a target price of around $64 versus a current share price of $52 and change.

Here are three reasons Best Buy will be on the map in 2008. First, they are the U.S. consumer electronics retailer, an area that is seeing more and more exposure as technology improves. It’s like buying a tech company without the risk! Secondly, as the technology improves, prices go down. While this may be bad for tech giants like Cisco (NYSE: CSCO), it is sending sales of things like digital TVs and notebook computers through the roof! Finally, their growth strategy is being executed successfully. Plain and simple, they are getting things done. Geek Squad, their tech support group, was definitely a big hit among consumers, and it is trading at a significant discount when compared to its competitors (forward P/E is 14X!).

Media – Jimvesting picks ValueClick (NYSE: VCLK)
The media sub-industry of consumer cyclical is a bit iffy right now with the recent writers strike among other things. Read the rest of this entry »

Coming next week, I will be launching into a new “format,” if you will, of blogging. In this layout, I will have my posts structured by topic around certain days of the week. Jimvesting is naturally divided into stock market, sports, and GPT topics. Because I do not want to favor one over the other, this regiment will allow the flow to stay focused.

Mondays are now stock market days. Starting next week I will also be beginning a series of stock pitches that are sector specific, week by week. I am most likely going to follow the S&P sector breakdown, so expect some great ideas on where to invest in 2008. Wednesdays are going to follow GPT websites and similar topics. Get ready for a controversial post about the popular TreasureTrooper.com (hey, they had it coming). And finally, since I like giving sports picks for weekend events, the sports posts will mostly fall on Fridays from here on out.

Keep in mind that this structure is flexible and will allow for more (or less) posting on the off days. I’ve been getting notice on traffic radars (finally) so please continue to spread the word, subscribe to my feed, shameless promotion of all kinds (haha).

-Jimvesting

Its a college bowl weekend this go-around. That means you get a bonus 3 picks on college games! Lets rock.

We did well last week, 2/3 games gets us in the money every time. Lets continue the streak this week on a six-game set, three NFL and three NCAA games. Keep in mind that these lines are adjusted as of this posting.

NCAA Game 1: Boston College Golden Eagles (-5.5)
The Golden Eagles ended their 2007 season by losing two games and dropping the ACC title after being ranked as high as 2nd in the nation. The Michigan State Spartans closed out their season in a comeback victory over the Penn State. But luck is reversed in this game, as BC shows how they earned a 10-3 record. BC is 10-0 out of conference and the Spartans can’t seem to win in December (2-5).

NCAA Game 2: Penn State Nittany Lions (-5.5)
The Nittany Lions wreaked havoc in the ’99 Alamo Bowl against the Aggies, routing them 24-0. This time shouldn’t be much different. Penn Staters are hungry for a win after an ugly finish of the regular season, defensive stars Sean Lee and Dan Conner should have their way with the A&M front line in this one. Read the rest of this entry »

The holiday rush is over, leaving really no reason to jump into new investments before year end. In the meantime, lets find some value to rock the market in 2008.

As far as equity trading goes, January is typically in the money. Why? Well one reason is that people like me are pouring money into new portfolios now that 2007 taxes are in the books. Since we have some time before the year turns, lets use it to pick out some winners, shall we?

Okay… winners, winners…. how exactly do you find one? Well for me, it’s all about finding an established company that has a promising future and is undervalued. As an example, lets pick on one of my 2008 hot-shots, Convance Inc (NYSE: CVD).

First off, Convance is by all means an established health care firm with a market cap over 5 1/2 billion. I like to use Yahoo! Finance to pull that number, and stop short if I see less than 3 billion. Then I am going to look into their returns (this primarily means return on equity, assets, and capital). Returns are #1 for me because if a company can’t grow what investors are putting in, why would we give them our money? Over 10% across the board for the current year and past five years is a must. But I don’t check this on Yahoo, nope, the old forgotten MSN money takes the cake for me. For Convance, just mash in that ticker symbol and grab “Financial Results” –> “Key Ratios” –> “Investment Returns“. I want every number in that front column to be at or above 10%, which Convance takes with style.

Once I find companies that I can stand, I want Read the rest of this entry »

I hit on a third of my bets last week. Don’t blame me here, a lost wager is not a bad wager. Lets go play that probability card once more!

Time to make up some ground on my deficit last week, and I can’t think of a better way than by scoring big on what is a “do-or-die” week in pro football. So, without further ado… lets get to it!

Game #1 – Cleveland Browns (-3)
If the Browns can’t beat the 5-9 Cincinnati Bengals on the road, they might as well kiss their unlikely playoff run goodbye. Last time these teams played, there were a whopping 96 points scored as the Browns emerged victorious. This time around, the Browns actually think they are talented, and need this win to get into the AFC wild card. Look for a big game out of Jamal Lewis as the Browns roll.

Game #2 – New York Giants (-3)
Okay, you got me, I am a Giants fan and wouldn’t tell you otherwise. However, you cannot ignore this amazing point spread giving that this is literally Big Blue’s Read the rest of this entry »