A year ago, while Alan Greenspan was having those nightmares about “irrational exuberance,” cheeky investment books were leaping off shelves into the arms of unsuspecting customers and screaming: BUY ME, BULL MARKETS LAST FOREVER!
Macmillan Canada released a series of four books boldly trumpeting the “best stocks” for Canadians, 2001 edition – The 50 Best Stocks, the 50 Best Ethical Stocks, The 50 Best Internet Stocks and the 50 Best Stocks Under $20.
Of course, timing is everything in the stock market and these books were released approximately a year late. Or perhaps a year early.
If you made investment decisions based on the stocks in these books, you’re probably the one screaming.
For example, Nortel Networks (NT-TSE), which recently traded in the $14 range, made two of the issues based on a $120 price!
It was one of numerous stocks that received rave reviews in the books but have fallen 50 per cent or more in the past year or so as the bear annihilated the markets.
The editions on Internet and ethical stocks, both of which included Nortel before it fell out of bed, were unmitigated disasters.
So what happens?
The books have been re-released with only the titles changed: The 50 Worst Stocks . . .
OK, we’re kidding.
Actually, the series is back on bookshelves with three 2002 editions - The 50 Best Stocks, The 50 Best Small Cap Stocks and The 50 Best Science & Technology Stocks, each priced at $24.99 (up $2 from last year).
Not surprisingly, the Internet and ethical editions have been sacked.
Only one of six authors who collaborated on the 2001 series, Gene Walden, has contributed to the latest offerings.
The latest series features far more conservative and safe-haven stocks and a cautionary note from the editor that “no book, website or expert can ever truthfully guarantee what will happen to a given stock.”
Ironically, Nortel, which was a screaming buy under $10 when the books were released, is shut out from the current editions.
However, there’s still plenty of risk here, particularly because of a heavy weighting in volatile energy stocks.
The ‘50 Best’ book, co-authored by Lori Bamber and Walden, features eight Calgary-based energy companies, including two companies that have been taken over and no longer exist – Anderson Exploration and Westcoast Energy. The others are Enbridge (ENB-TSE), Petro-Canada (PCE-TSE), Alberta Energy (AEC-TSE), Shell Canada (SHC-TSE), Suncor Energy (SU-TSE) and Ensign Drilling (ESI-TSE).
Other Calgary-based companies on the blue-chip list are Agrium (AGU-TSE) and Telus (T-TSE).
Notable Calgary-based companies on the list of 50 Best Science & Technology stocks, by Marco den Ouden, are Canadian Hydro Developers (KHD-TSE) and BW Technologies (BWT-TSE).
BW, the upstart maker of gas-detection instruments, was bypassed in the 2000 edition of small caps and has since tripled.
The current small caps edition, by Bamber and Walden, includes eight Alberta-based companies, including five energy companies.
HOT ALBERTA STOCK: TEMPEST ENERGY
TMY.A-CDNX $3.00
Up 55 cents (+22.4%) on 39,000 shares (for week ending Dec. 7).
In November, Tempest rolled through nine straight sessions without trading a single share. The stock came alive early in the week and continued to move on news that the Calgary-based junior oil-and-gas company had arranged a $4-million financing with Griffith, McBurney and Partners.
COLD ALBERTA STOCK:SOLID RESOURCES
SRW-CDNX $1.45
Down 55 cents (-27.5%) on 9,300 shares (for week ending Dec. 7).
This stock has been anything but Solid this year, down from a high of $4.40. The latest dip came on minuscule volume. Solid, based in Nisku, near Edmonton, is a unique two-pronged operation with an oilfield services division along with a minerals exploration unit.
