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Company name Calavo Growers, Inc.
Stock ticker CVGW
Live stock price [stckqut]CVGW[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Poor
Sales growth Fair
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Good
EBIT growth Good

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Good
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $149.92
Target stock price (averages with growth) $195.71
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $132.94
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $136.37

The following company description is from Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/cvgw

Calavo Growers, Inc., incorporated on January 5, 2001, operates in the avocado industry. The Company provides value-added fresh food. The Company distributes its products both domestically and internationally. It operates in three business segments: Fresh products, Calavo Foods and Renaissance Food Group, LLC (RFG). The Company is engaged in marketing and distributing avocados, prepared avocados and other perishable foods, which allows it to deliver an array of fresh and prepared food products to food distributors, produce wholesalers, supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants on a worldwide basis. The Company procures avocados principally from California and Mexico. Through its various operating facilities, the Company sorts, packs, and/or ripens avocados, tomatoes and/or Hawaiian grown papayas; processes and packages fresh cut fruit and vegetables, salads, wraps, sandwiches, fresh snacking products and a range of behind-the-glass deli items, and produces and packages guacamole and salsa.

The Company sells avocados under the Calavo family of brand labels, as well as private labels. The Company offers ProRipeVIP avocado ripening program. The ProRipeVIP avocado ripening program allows the Company to deliver avocados evenly ripened to its customers’ specifications.

 

Confident Investor comments: At this price and at this time, I think that a Confident Investor can confidently invest in Calavo Growers, Inc. as long as the indicators that I describe in my book The Confident Investor are favorable.

If you would like to understand how to evaluate companies like I do on this site, please read my book, The Confident Investor. You can review the best companies that I have found (and I probably invest my own money in most of these companies) in my Watch List.

How was this analysis of Calavo Growers, Inc. calculated?

For owners of my book, “The Confident Investor” I offer the following analysis (you must be logged in to this site as a book owner in order to see the following analysis). If you have registered and cannot see the balance of this article, make sure you are logged in and refresh your browser.
[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]

In order to assist you in using the techniques of this book, the values that I used when calculating the Manual pricing above were:

  • Stock price at the time of the calculation: $96.85
  • Growth: 0.18
  • Current EPS (TTM): $2.4
  • P/E: 40
  • Future EPS Calc: $5.49
  • Future Stock Price Calc: $219.62
  • Target stock price: $136.36

[/s2If]
I hope that this makes you a Confident Investor.

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Company name Charles Schwab Corporation Common Stock
Stock ticker SCHW
Live stock price [stckqut]SCHW[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Fair

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Fair
Sales growth Fair
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Poor
EBIT growth Poor

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Fair
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $45.71
Target stock price (averages with growth) $83.3
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $71.77
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $57.66

The following company description is from Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/schw

The Charles Schwab Corporation (CSC), incorporated on November 25, 1986, is a savings and loan holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services. The Company provides financial services to individuals and institutional clients through two segments: Investor Services and Advisor Services. The Investor Services segment provides retail brokerage and banking services, retirement plan services and other corporate brokerage services. The Advisor Services segment provides custodial, trading, and support services as well as retirement business services. The Company’s subsidiaries include Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab), which is a securities broker-dealer with over 335 domestic branch offices in 46 states, as well as a branch in each of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and London, England, and serves clients in Hong Kong through one of the Company’s subsidiaries, as of December 31, 2016; Charles Schwab Bank (Schwab Bank), which is a federal savings bank located in Nevada, and Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (CSIM), which is the investment advisor for Schwab’s mutual funds referred to as the Schwab Funds, and Schwab’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs), referred to as the Schwab ETFs.

The Company offers a range of products to address individuals’ varying investment and financial needs. Its product offerings include brokerage, mutual funds, ETFs, advice solutions, banking and trust. Brokerage provides a range of brokerage accounts with cash management capabilities. Mutual funds offer third-party mutual funds through the Mutual Fund Marketplace, including no-transaction fee mutual funds through the Mutual Fund OneSource service, which also includes proprietary mutual funds, plus mutual fund trading and clearing services to broker-dealers. Exchange-traded funds provide an offering of ETFs, including various third-party ETFs available without a commission through Schwab ETF OneSource. Advice solutions offer managed portfolios of both third-party mutual funds and ETFs, separately managed accounts, customized personal advice for portfolios, and specialized planning and full-time portfolio management. Banking offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, first lien residential real estate mortgage loans (First Mortgages), home equity loans and lines of credit (HELOCs), and pledged asset lines (PALs). Trust offers trust custody services, personal trust reporting services, and administrative trustee services.

 

Confident Investor comments: At this time, I think that a Confident Investor can cautiously invest in Charles Schwab Corporation Common Stock as long as the price is correct and the indicators that I describe in my book The Confident Investor are favorable. Most of the fundamentals of this company are good but there are some concerns.

If you would like to understand how to evaluate companies like I do on this site, please read my book, The Confident Investor. You can review the best companies that I have found (and I probably invest my own money in most of these companies) in my Watch List.

How was this analysis of Charles Schwab Corporation Common Stock calculated?

For owners of my book, “The Confident Investor” I offer the following analysis (you must be logged in to this site as a book owner in order to see the following analysis). If you have registered and cannot see the balance of this article, make sure you are logged in and refresh your browser.
[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]

In order to assist you in using the techniques of this book, the values that I used when calculating the Manual pricing above were:

  • Stock price at the time of the calculation: $51.3
  • Growth: 0.13
  • Current EPS (TTM): $1.8
  • P/E: 28
  • Future EPS Calc: $3.31
  • Future Stock Price Calc: $92.85
  • Target stock price: $57.65

[/s2If]
I hope that this makes you a Confident Investor.

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Company name Gray Television, Inc.
Stock ticker GTN
Live stock price [stckqut]GTN[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Poor
Sales growth Fair
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Good
EBIT growth Good

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Good
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $17.
Target stock price (averages with growth) $18.54
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $12.59
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $10.9

 

The following company description is from Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/gtn

Gray Television, Inc., incorporated on January 25, 1897, is a television broadcast company. The Company owns and operates television stations and digital assets in various markets across the United States. As of February 21, 2017, the Company owned and/or operated television stations in 54 television markets broadcasting over 200 separate programming streams, including 37 affiliates of the CBS Network (CBS), 29 affiliates of the NBC Network (NBC), 20 affiliates of the ABC Network (ABC) and 15 affiliates of the FOX Network (FOX). In addition to a primary broadcast channel, each of its stations can also broadcast additional secondary digital channels within a market by utilizing the same bandwidth, but with different programming from the primary channel.

 

Confident Investor comments: At this price and at this time, I think that a Confident Investor can confidently invest in Gray Television, Inc. as long as the indicators that I describe in my book The Confident Investor are favorable.

If you would like to understand how to evaluate companies like I do on this site, please read my book, The Confident Investor. You can review the best companies that I have found (and I probably invest my own money in most of these companies) in my Watch List.

How was this analysis of Gray Television, Inc. calculated?

For owners of my book, “The Confident Investor” I offer the following analysis (you must be logged in to this site as a book owner in order to see the following analysis). If you have registered and cannot see the balance of this article, make sure you are logged in and refresh your browser.
[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]

In order to assist you in using the techniques of this book, the values that I used when calculating the Manual pricing above were:

  • Stock price at the time of the calculation: $11
  • Growth: 0.12
  • Current EPS (TTM): $1.66
  • P/E: 6
  • Future EPS Calc: $2.92
  • Future Stock Price Calc: $17.55
  • Target stock price: $10.89

[/s2If]
I hope that this makes you a Confident Investor.

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ID-100203460It is time to start the year with strength! In that vein, I offer my 15 recommended stocks for the first 3 months of 2018. I cannot list the worst stocks, as there are too many of those to itemize. I can at least list the 15 recommended stocks that will give you a good basis for the first three months of 2018.

Many sites do all year lists, but I am only committing to this list for the first three months. There is a great reason for this limitation. It is almost impossible to predict the market farther out than 3-6 month. In fact, it is quite possible for the market to do a massive correction and even this list would be a fallacy. There is always some risk with any investment and you are encouraged to read this site’s disclaimer before acting on this list.

I would expect all of these companies to maintain their status as Good Companies on my Watch List. I would not expect all of them to make a top 15 recommended stocks list in the second quarter of 2018. Some of them will grow a bit slower than I expect, and a couple of the 15 recommended stocks are probably going to lose money. As Peter Lynch famously said:

“In this business if you’re good, you’re right six times out of ten. You’re never going to be right nine times out of ten.”

I hope to be right on this list with 12 of these picks, but Peter says I should be happy with 9. I don’t expect all 15 recommended stocks to be massive growth stocks in the year. I also think the list is successful if the list of 15 beats the S&P 500 and the Dow30. In April, I plan to publish a list for the second quarter of the year.

All of the stocks on this list are rated as Good Companies using the method that I describe in my book The Confident Investor.  You can purchase my book wherever books are sold such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books A Million. It is available in e-book formats for Nook, Kindle, and iPad.

The 15 recommended stocks were chosen from Good Companies on my Watch List. This means we already know they are fairly well managed and have a history of solid growth. While all of the stocks on the Watch List are well run, these 15 recommended stocks seem to be the most well set up for aggressive growth in the first quarter of 2018.

The 15 recommended stocks for the first quarter of 2018 also performed very well over the past year and the past 3 years. As I have written before, the past is not a perfect indicator of the future, but it is probably the best indicator that we have to use.

To show this strong performance, I will use a tool from Google Finance to plot the growth of these 15 companies compared to several indices. According to Google, my 15 stocks significantly outperformed the Dow Jones, S&P5oo, and Nasdaq. My list had an annual growth of 99.82%, while the others grew at 27.12%, 21.10%, 29.39% respectively.

In other words, my list beat the market in 2017 by over 300%! For every dollar that you could have earned in an index fund, you would have earned $3 (or more) with my Short Term List.

 

I didn’t try to make this list of 15 recommended stocks to be a balanced portfolio covering multiple industries. I am happy to report that it isn’t terribly unbalanced. The reality is that if you plan to rebalance your portfolio every 3 months, then you really do not have to worry too much about industry balance.

If you want a more balanced portfolio, you should have approximately 30% of your portfolio invested in index funds. These funds should be divided by large and small-cap funds, an index bond fund, and an index international fund. This would help to balance your portfolio.

You could also look at the Watch List of stocks. These stocks have shown that they are well-run companies. If you are concerned about a balanced portfolio, I suggest that you compliment the 15 recommended stocks with a couple stocks from the Watch List.

The list of 15 recommended stocks for the first quarter of 2018

The list of 15 recommended stocks for the first quarter of 2018 sorted alphabetically by stock symbol are:

  • ABIOMED, Inc. [stckqut]ABMD[/stckqut]
  • Adobe Systems Incorporated [stckqut]ADBE[/stckqut]
  • Align Technology, Inc. [stckqut]ALGN[/stckqut]
  • Applied Materials, Inc. [stckqut]AMAT[/stckqut]
  • Amazon.com, Inc. [stckqut]AMZN[/stckqut]
  • Arista Networks Inc [stckqut]ANET[/stckqut]
  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd [stckqut]BABA[/stckqut]
  • Installed Building Products Inc [stckqut]IBP[/stckqut]
  • LGI Homes Inc [stckqut]LGIH[/stckqut]
  • Lam Research Corporation [stckqut]LRCX[/stckqut]
  • Micron Technology, Inc. [stckqut]MU[/stckqut]
  • Netflix, Inc. [stckqut]NFLX[/stckqut]
  • NVIDIA Corporation [stckqut]NVDA[/stckqut]
  • Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA (ADR) [stckqut]TGS[/stckqut]
  • TriNet Group Inc [stckqut]TNET[/stckqut]

If you want to know a bit more about the companies that comprise the 15 recommended stocks for the first quarter of 2018, you can read below. The descriptions primarily came from the short paragraph descriptions about the company found on Google Finance. https://www.google.com/finance. The stock price charts also came from Google Finance. You can also click on a company name on the right side of this site, under the heading of Most Reviewed Companies (you may need to scroll down) as most of the companies on this list have been reviewed here several times.

  • ABIOMED, Inc. [stckqut]ABMD[/stckqut]
    • ABIOMED, Inc. is a provider of temporary percutaneous mechanical circulatory support devices. The Company offers care to heart failure patients. The Company operates in the segment of the research, development and sale of medical devices to assist or replace the pumping function of the failing heart. The Company develops, manufactures and markets products that are designed to enable the heart to rest, heal and recover by improving blood flow to the coronary arteries and end-organs and/or temporarily performing the pumping function of the heart. The Company’s product portfolio includes the Impella 2.5, Impella CP, Impella RP, Impella LD, Impella 5.0 and AB5000. The Company’s products are used in the cardiac catheterization lab (cath lab), by interventional cardiologists, the electrophysiology lab, the hybrid lab and in the heart surgery suite by heart surgeons.
  • Adobe Systems Incorporated [stckqut]ADBE[/stckqut]
    • Adobe Systems Incorporated is a software company. The Company offers products and services used by professionals, marketers, knowledge workers, application developers, enterprises and consumers for creating, managing, delivering, measuring, optimizing and engaging with compelling content and experiences. It operates through three segments: Digital Media, Digital Marketing, and Print and Publishing. Its Digital Media segment provides tools and solutions that enable individuals, small and medium businesses and enterprises to create, publish, promote and monetize their digital content. Its Digital Marketing segment provides solutions and services for how digital advertising and marketing are created, managed, executed, measured and optimized. Its Print and Publishing segment addresses market opportunities ranging from the diverse authoring and publishing needs of technical and business publishing to its legacy type and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) printing businesses.
  • Align Technology, Inc. [stckqut]ALGN[/stckqut]
    • Align Technology, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets a system of clear aligner therapy, intra-oral scanners and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) digital services used in dentistry, orthodontics and dental records storage. The Company operates through two segments: Clear Aligner segment and Scanner and Services (Scanner) segment. The Clear Aligner segment consists of its Invisalign System, which includes Invisalign Full, Teen and Assist (Comprehensive Products), Express/Lite (Non-Comprehensive Products) and Vivera Retainers, along with its training and ancillary products for treating malocclusion (Non-Case). The Scanner segment consists of intra-oral scanning systems and other services available with the intra-oral scanners that provide digital alternatives to the traditional cast models. The Scanner segment includes its iTero scanner and OrthoCAD services.
  • Applied Materials, Inc. [stckqut]AMAT[/stckqut]
    • Applied Materials, Inc. provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the global semiconductor, display and related industries. The Company’s segments are Semiconductor Systems, which includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation; Applied Global Services, which provides integrated solutions to optimize equipment and fab performance and productivity; Display and Adjacent Markets, which includes products for manufacturing liquid crystal displays, organic light-emitting diodes, upgrades and roll-to-roll Web coating systems and other display technologies for televisions, personal computers, smart phones and other consumer-oriented devices, and Corporate and Other segment, which includes revenues from products, as well as costs of products sold for fabricating solar photovoltaic cells and modules, and certain operating expenses.
  • Amazon.com, Inc. [stckqut]AMZN[/stckqut]
    • Amazon.com, Inc. offers a range of products and services through its Websites. The Company operates through three segments: North America, International and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The Company’s products include merchandise and content that it purchases for resale from vendors and those offered by third-party sellers. It also manufactures and sells electronic devices. The Company, through its subsidiary, Whole Foods Market, Inc., offers healthy and organic food and staples across its stores. The Company also offers a range of products like whole trade bananas, organic avocados, organic large brown eggs, organic responsibly-farmed salmon and tilapia, organic baby kale and baby lettuce, animal-welfare-rated 85% lean ground beef, creamy and crunchy almond butter, organic gala and fuji apples, organic rotisserie chicken.
  • Arista Networks Inc [stckqut]ANET[/stckqut]
    • Arista Networks, Inc. is a supplier of cloud networking solutions that use software innovations to address the needs of Internet companies, cloud service providers and data centers for enterprise support. It develops, markets and sells cloud networking solutions, which consist of its Gigabit Ethernet switches and related software. The Company’s cloud networking solutions consist of its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a set of network applications and its Ethernet switching and routing platforms. The programmability of EOS has allowed it to create a set of software applications that address the requirements of cloud networking, including workflow automation, network visibility and analytics, and has also allowed it to integrate with a range of third-party applications for virtualization, management, automation, orchestration and network services. EOS supports cloud and virtualization solutions, including VMware NSX, Microsoft System Center and other cloud management frameworks.
  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd [stckqut]BABA[/stckqut]
    • Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the Company is engaged in online and mobile commerce through offering of products, services and technology that enable merchants, brands and other businesses to transform the way they market, sell and operate in the People’s Republic of China (China) and internationally. Its businesses consist of core commerce, cloud computing, mobile media and entertainment, and other innovation initiatives. Through investee affiliates, it also participates in the logistics and local services sectors. Retail commerce in China operated by the Company includes the China online commerce destination (Taobao Marketplace); the China third-party platform for brands and retailers (Tmall), and the sales and marketing platform for flash sales (Juhuasuan). Wholesale commerce in China operated by the Company includes the China domestic wholesale marketplace (1688.com) and the wholesale marketplace for global trade (Alibaba.com).
  • Installed Building Products Inc [stckqut]IBP[/stckqut]
    • Installed Building Products, Inc. is a holding company. The Company is a residential insulation installer in the United States. As of December 31, 2016, the Company’s national platform included over 100 locations accessing customers in 48 continental states and the District of Columbia. The Company also installs complementary building products, including garage doors, rain gutters, shower doors, closet shelving and mirrors, which provides cross-selling opportunities to supplement the insulation installation business. The Company manages various aspects of the installation process for the customers, from the direct purchase and receipt of materials from national manufacturers, to supply of materials to job sites and quality installation. The Company’s customers include production and custom homebuilders, multi-family and commercial contractors, and homeowners.
  • LGI Homes Inc [stckqut]LGIH[/stckqut]
    • LGI Homes, Inc. is a homebuilder and land developer. The Company is engaged in the design, construction, marketing and sale of new homes in markets in Texas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina, North Carolina, Colorado, Washington and Tennessee. The Company operates through five segments: the Texas division, the Southwest division, the Southeast division, the Florida division and the Northwest division. The Texas division includes homebuilding operations in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin locations. The Southwest division includes homebuilding operations in Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, Denver and Colorado Springs locations. The Southeast division includes homebuilding operations in Atlanta, Charlotte and Nashville locations. The Florida division includes homebuilding operations in Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Jacksonville locations. The Northwest division includes homebuilding operations in Seattle location.
  • Lam Research Corporation [stckqut]LRCX[/stckqut]
    • Lam Research Corporation is a supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. The Company designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes and services semiconductor processing systems that are used in the fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs). It operates through manufacturing and servicing of wafer processing semiconductor manufacturing equipment segment. Its products are designed to enable its customers build a range of devices that are used in a range of electronic products, including cell phones, tablets, computers, storage devices, and networking equipment. Its customer base includes semiconductor memory, foundry, and integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) that make products, such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), negative-AND (NAND) memory and logic devices. It offers a portfolio of products that are used in several areas of the semiconductor manufacturing process flow, including thin film deposition, plasma etch and single-wafer clean.
  • Micron Technology, Inc. [stckqut]MU[/stckqut]
    • Micron Technology, Inc. is engaged in semiconductor systems. The Company’s portfolio of memory technologies, including dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), negative-AND (NAND) Flash and NOR Flash are the basis for solid-state drives, modules, multi-chip packages and other system solutions. Its business segments include Compute and Networking Business Unit (CNBU), which includes memory products sold into compute, networking, graphics and cloud server markets; Mobile Business Unit (MBU), which includes memory products sold into smartphone, tablet and other mobile-device markets; Storage Business Unit (SBU), which includes memory products sold into enterprise, client, cloud and removable storage markets, and SBU also includes products sold to Intel through its Intel/Micron Flash Technology (IMFT) joint venture, and Embedded Business Unit (EBU), which includes memory products sold into automotive, industrial, connected home and consumer electronics markets.
  • Netflix, Inc. [stckqut]NFLX[/stckqut]
    • Netflix, Inc. is a provider an Internet television network. The Company operates through three segments: Domestic streaming, International streaming and Domestic DVD. The Domestic streaming segment includes services that streams content to its members in the United States. The International streaming segment includes services that streams content to its members outside the United States. The Domestic DVD segment includes services, such as digital optical disc (DVD)-by-mail. The Company’s members can watch original series, documentaries, feature films, as well as television shows and movies directly on their Internet-connected screen, televisions, computers and mobile devices. It offers its streaming services both domestically and internationally. In the United States, its members can receive DVDs delivered to their homes. The Company had members streaming in over 190 countries, as of December 31, 2016.
  • NVIDIA Corporation [stckqut]NVDA[/stckqut]
    • Nvidia Corporation focuses on personal computer (PC) graphics, graphics processing unit (GPU) and also on artificial intelligence (AI). The Company’s operates through two segments: GPU and Tegra Processor. The Company’s GPU product brands are aimed at specialized markets, including GeForce for gamers; Quadro for designers; Tesla and DGX for AI data scientists and big data researchers; and GRID for cloud-based visual computing users. The Company’s Tegra brand integrates an entire computer onto a single chip, and incorporates GPUs and multi-core central processing units (CPUs) to drive supercomputing for mobile gaming and entertainment devices, as well as autonomous robots, drones and cars. The Company’s processor has created platforms that address four markets: Gaming, Professional Visualization, Datacenter, and Automotive. The Company’s offerings include NVIDIA DGX AI supercomputer, the NVIDIA DRIVE AI car computing platform and the GeForce NOW cloud gaming service.
  • Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA (ADR) [stckqut]TGS[/stckqut]
    • Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. is engaged in the transportation of natural gas and production and commercialization of natural gas liquids (Liquids). The Company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Transportation Services, Liquids Production and Commercialization, Other Services and Telecommunications. The Company’s pipeline system connects gas fields in southern and western Argentina with gas distributors and industries in those areas and in the greater Buenos Aires area. It also provides midstream services, which consist of gas treatment, removal of impurities from the natural gas stream, gas compression, wellhead gas gathering and pipeline construction, operation and maintenance services. The Company transports gas through approximately 5,675 miles of pipeline, of which it owns 4,745 miles. It operates the remaining 930 miles, which are owned by the Gas Trusts.
  • TriNet Group Inc [stckqut]TNET[/stckqut]
    • TriNet Group, Inc. is a provider of human resources (HR) solutions for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The Company’s HR solutions include services, such as multi-state payroll processing and tax administration, employee benefits programs, including health insurance and retirement plans, workers’ compensation insurance and claims management, employment and benefit law compliance, and other services. The Company provides an HR technology platform with online and mobile tools that allow its clients and their worksite employees (WSEs) to store, view and manage their HR-related information and conduct a range of HR-related transactions anytime and anywhere. The Company’s HR products and solutions include capabilities, such as technology platform, HR expertise, benefits and compliance. The Company’s clients are distributed across a range of industries, including technology, life sciences, financial services, property management, retail, manufacturing and hospitality.

My typical disclaimer says that I may or may not have a holding of the stocks discussed in this article. This would be a bit misleading for this particular article. You can assume that I am currently invested in every one of these stocks at the time of this writing.

The glass globe image at the top of this article is courtesy of suphakit73 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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ID-100203460It is time to focus on ending the year with strength! In that vein, I offer my 15 recommended stocks for the last 3 months of 2017. I cannot list the worst stocks, as there are too many of those to itemize. I can at least list the 15 recommended stocks that will give you a good basis for the last three months of 2017.

Many sites do all year lists, but I am only committing to this list for the last three months. There is a great reason for this. It is almost impossible to predict the market farther out than 3-6 month. In fact, it is quite possible for the market to do a massive correction and even this list would be a fallacy. There is always some risk with any investment and you are encouraged to read this site’s disclaimer before acting on this list.

I would expect all of these companies to maintain their status as Good Companies on my Watch List. I would not expect all of them to make a top 15 recommended stocks list at the beginning of 2018. Some of them will grow a bit slower than I expect, and a couple of the 15 recommended stocks are probably going to lose money. As Peter Lynch famously said:

“In this business if you’re good, you’re right six times out of ten. You’re never going to be right nine times out of ten.”

By Peter’s standards, I hope to be right on this list with 12 of these picks but Peter says I should be happy with 9. I don’t expect all 15 recommended stocks to be massive growth stocks in the year. I also think the list is successful if the list of 15 beats the S&P 500 and the Dow30. In January, I plan to publish a list for the first quarter of the year.

All of the stocks on this list are rated as Good Companies using the method that I describe in my book The Confident Investor.  You can purchase my book wherever books are sold such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books A Million. It is available in e-book formats for Nook, Kindle, and iPad.

The 15 recommended stocks were chosen from Good Companies on my Watch List. This means we already know they are fairly well managed and have a history of solid growth. While all of the stocks on the Watch List are Good Companies, these 15 recommended stocks seem to be the most well set up for aggressive growth in the last quarter of 2017.

The 15 recommended stocks for the last quarter of 2017 also performed very well over the past year and the past 3 years. As I have written before, the past is not a perfect indicator of the future, but it is probably the best indicator that we have to use.

I didn’t try to make this list of 15 recommended stocks to be a balanced portfolio covering multiple industries. I am happy to report that it isn’t terribly unbalanced. The reality is that if you plan to rebalance your portfolio every 3 months, then you really do not have to worry too much about industry balance.

If you want a more balanced portfolio, you should have approximately 30% of your portfolio invested in index funds. These funds should be divided by large and small-cap funds, an index bond fund, and an index international fund. This would help to balance your portfolio.

You could also look at the Watch List of stocks. These stocks have shown that they are well-run companies. If you are concerned about a balanced portfolio, I suggest that you compliment the 15 recommended stocks with a couple stocks from the Watch List.

The list of 15 recommended stocks for the last quarter of 2017

The list of 15 recommended stocks for the first quarter of 2016 sorted alphabetically by stock symbol are:

  • Apple, Inc. [stckqut]AAPL[/stckqut]
  • ABIOMED, Inc. [stckqut]ABMD[/stckqut]
  • Align Technology, Inc. [stckqut]ALGN[/stckqut]
  • Applied Materials, Inc. [stckqut]AMAT[/stckqut]
  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd [stckqut]BABA[/stckqut]
  • Cavco Industries, Inc. [stckqut]CVCO[/stckqut]
  • Domino’s Pizza, Inc. [stckqut]DPZ[/stckqut]
  • Facebook Inc [stckqut]FB[/stckqut]
  • Gray Television, Inc. [stckqut]GTN[/stckqut]
  • Heska Corp [stckqut]HSKA[/stckqut]
  • Netflix, Inc. [stckqut]NFLX[/stckqut]
  • NVIDIA Corporation [stckqut]NVDA[/stckqut]
  • Priceline Group Inc [stckqut]PCLN[/stckqut]
  • Constellation Brands, Inc. [stckqut]STZ[/stckqut]
  • Trinity Industries Inc [stckqut]TRN[/stckqut]

If you want to know a bit more about the companies that comprise the 15 recommended stocks for the first quarter of 2016, you can read below. The descriptions primarily came from the short paragraph descriptions about the company found on Google Finance. https://www.google.com/finance. The stock price charts also came from Google Finance. You can also click on a company name on the right side of this site, under the heading of Most Reviewed Companies (you may need to scroll down) as most of the companies on this list have been reviewed here several times.

  • Apple Inc.
    • Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings. The Company also delivers digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, App StoreSM, iBookstoreSM, and Mac App Store. The Company distributes its products worldwide through its retail stores, online stores, and direct sales force, as well as through third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. In February 2012, the Company acquired app-search engine Chomp.
  • ABIOMED, Inc.
    • Abiomed, Inc. is a provider of temporary percutaneous mechanical circulatory support devices. The Company offers care to heart failure patients. The Company’s products include Impella 2.5, a percutaneous micro heart pump with an integrated motor and sensors; Impella CP, which is primarily used by either interventional cardiologists to support patients in the catheter lab or by surgeons in the heart surgery suite; Impella 5.0 and Impella LD, a percutaneous micro heart pumps with integrated motors and sensors for use primarily in the heart surgery suite; Impella RP, a percutaneous catheter-based axial flow pump that is designed to allow greater than four liters of flow per minute; AB5000, a circulatory support system for the temporary support of acute heart failure patients in profound shock, and Symphony, a minimally invasive implantable cardiac assist device.
  • Align Technology, Inc.
    • Align Technology, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets a system of clear aligner therapy, intra-oral scanners and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) digital services used in dentistry, orthodontics, and dental records storage. The Company operates through two segments: Clear Aligner segment and Scanner and Services (Scanner) segment. The Clear Aligner segment consists of its Invisalign System, which includes Invisalign Full, Express/Lite, Teen, Assist and Vivera Retainers, along with its training and ancillary products for treating malocclusion. The Scanner segment consists of intra-oral scanning systems and other services available with the intra-oral scanners that provide digital alternatives to the traditional cast models. The Company’s iTero scanner is used by dental professionals, and labs and services for restorative and orthodontic digital procedures, as well as Invisalign digital impression submission.
  • Applied Materials, Inc.
    • Applied Materials, Inc. provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the global semiconductor, display and related industries. The Company’s segments are Semiconductor Systems, which includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation; Applied Global Services, which provides integrated solutions to optimize equipment and fab performance and productivity; Display and Adjacent Markets, which includes products for manufacturing liquid crystal displays, organic light-emitting diodes, upgrades and roll-to-roll Web coating systems and other display technologies for televisions, personal computers, smartphones and other consumer-oriented devices, and Corporate and Other segment, which includes revenues from products, as well as costs of products sold for fabricating solar photovoltaic cells and modules, and certain operating expenses.
  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
    • Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the Company is engaged in online and mobile commerce through the offering of products, services, and technology that enable merchants, brands and other businesses to transform the way they market, sell and operate in the People’s Republic of China (China) and internationally. Its businesses consist of core commerce, cloud computing, mobile media and entertainment, and other innovation initiatives. Through investee affiliates, it also participates in the logistics and local services sectors. Retail commerce in China operated by the Company includes the China online commerce destination (Taobao Marketplace); the China third-party platform for brands and retailers (Tmall), and the sales and marketing platform for flash sales (Juhuasuan). Wholesale commerce in China operated by the Company includes the China domestic wholesale marketplace (1688.com) and the wholesale marketplace for global trade (Alibaba.com).
  • Cavco Industries, Inc.
    • Cavco Industries, Inc. designs and produces factory-built homes. The Company operates through two segments: factory-built housing, which includes wholesale and retail systems-built housing operations, and financial services, which includes manufactured housing consumer finance and insurance. Its factory-built homes are primarily distributed through a network of independent and the Company-owned retailers, planned community operators, and residential developers. It markets its products under the brands, including Cavco Homes, Fleetwood Homes, Palm Harbor Homes, Fairmont Homes and Chariot Eagle. It is also a builder of park-model recreational vehicle (RVs), vacation cabins and systems-built commercial structures, as well as modular homes built primarily under the Nationwide Homes brand. It also produces a range of Cape Cod-style homes and multi-family units and builds commercial modular structures, including apartment buildings, schools and housing for the United States military troops.
  • Domino’s Pizza, Inc.
    • Domino’s Pizza, Inc. is a pizza restaurant chain. The Company operates pizza stores at 12,500 locations in over 80 markets. It operates through three segments: domestic stores, international franchise, and supply chain. Its Domestic Stores segment consists primarily of its franchise operations, through which it operates a network of over 4,820 franchised stores located in the United States. Its International Franchise segment consists of a network of franchised stores in approximately 80 international markets. Its supply chain segment operates approximately 20 regional dough manufacturing and food supply chain centers in the United States; a thin crust manufacturing center; a vegetable processing center, and a center providing equipment and supplies to certain of its domestic and international stores. Its basic menu features pizza products in various sizes and crust types. Its stores also offer oven-baked sandwiches, pasta, bread side items, desserts and soft drink products.
  • Facebook Inc
    • Facebook, Inc. is focused on building products that enable people to connect and share through mobile devices, personal computers, and other surfaces. The Company’s products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Oculus. Facebook enables people to connect, share, discover and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers. Instagram enables people to take photos or videos, customize them with filter effects, and share them with friends and followers in a photo feed or send them directly to friends. Messenger allows communicating with people and businesses alike across a range of platforms and devices. WhatsApp Messenger is a messaging application that is used by people around the world and is available on a range of mobile platforms. Its Oculus virtual reality technology and content platform offers products that allow people to enter an interactive environment to play games, consume content and connect with others.
  • Gray Television, Inc.
    • Gray Television, Inc. is a television broadcast company. The Company owns and operates television stations and digital assets in various markets across the United States. As of February 21, 2017, the Company owned and/or operated television stations in 54 television markets broadcasting over 200 separate programming streams, including 37 affiliates of the CBS Network (CBS), 29 affiliates of the NBC Network (NBC), 20 affiliates of the ABC Network (ABC) and 15 affiliates of the FOX Network (FOX). In addition to a primary broadcast channel, each of its stations can also broadcast additional secondary digital channels within a market by utilizing the same bandwidth, but with different programming from the primary channel. The Company also broadcasts local news/weather channels in certain of its existing markets. Along with affiliations with ABC, CBS and FOX, the Company’s secondary channels are affiliated with various smaller networks and program services.
  • Heska Corp
    • Heska Corporation develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports veterinary products. The Company focuses on the canine and feline companion animal health markets. Its segments include Core Companion Animal Health segment, which includes, primarily for canine and feline use, blood testing instruments and supplies, digital imaging products, software and services, and single-use products and services, such as heartworm diagnostic tests, heartworm preventive products, allergy immunotherapy products and allergy testing, and Other Vaccines, Pharmaceuticals and Products segment, which includes private label vaccine and pharmaceutical production, primarily for cattle but also for other animals, including small mammals. It offers blood testing instruments and supplies, digital imaging products, software and services, and single-use products and services, such as in-clinic heartworm diagnostic tests, heartworm preventive products, allergy immunotherapy products and allergy testing.
  • Netflix, Inc.
    • Netflix, Inc. is a provider an Internet television network. The Company operates through three segments: Domestic streaming, International streaming, and Domestic DVD. The Domestic streaming segment includes services that streams content to its members in the United States. The International streaming segment includes services that streams content to its members outside the United States. The Domestic DVD segment includes services, such as digital optical disc (DVD)-by-mail. The Company’s members can watch original series, documentaries, feature films, as well as television shows and movies directly on their Internet-connected screen, televisions, computers and mobile devices. It offers its streaming services both domestically and internationally. In the United States, its members can receive DVDs delivered to their homes. The Company had members streaming in over 190 countries, as of December 31, 2016.
  • NVIDIA Corporation
    • NVIDIA Corporation (NVIDIA) is engaged in visual computing. The Company operates through segments, including GPU and Tegra Processor. Its GPU businesses include GeForce for personal computer (PC) gaming; Quadro for design professionals working in computer-aided design, video editing, special effects and other creative applications; Tesla for deep learning and accelerated computing, leveraging the parallel computing capabilities of graphics processing units (GPUs) for general purpose computing, and GRID to provide the power of NVIDIA graphics through the cloud and data centers. The Company’s Tegra processors are primarily designed to enable its branded platforms: DRIVE and SHIELD. Tegra is also sold to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for devices. DRIVE automotive computers provide supercomputing capabilities to make driving safer. SHIELD consists of a family of devices designed to harness the power of mobile-cloud to revolutionize gaming.
  • Priceline Group Inc
    • The Priceline Group Inc. is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands. Its other brands include KAYAK, Rentalcars.com and OpenTable, Inc. (OpenTable). As of December 31, 2016, Booking.com offered accommodation reservation services for over 1,115,000 properties in over 220 countries and territories on its various Web sites and in over 40 languages, which included over 568,000 vacation rental properties (updated property counts were available on the Booking.com Website).
  • Constellation Brands, Inc.
    • Constellation Brands, Inc. is an international beverage alcohol company. The Company’s operating segments include Beer, Wine and Spirits and Corporate Operations and Other. The Company’s wine portfolio is complemented by select spirits brands and other select beverage alcohol products. It is a multi-category supplier (beer, wine, and spirits) of beverage alcohol in the United States. The Company’s customers include wholesale distributors, retailers, on-premise locations and government alcohol beverage control agencies. In the United States, the Company operates 19 wineries using varieties of grapes grown in the Napa, Sonoma, Monterey and San Joaquin regions of California. It also operates eight wineries in Canada, four wineries in New Zealand and five wineries in Italy. The Company’s Canadian whisky requirements are produced and aged at its Canadian distillery in Lethbridge, Alberta.
  • Trinity Industries Inc
    • Trinity Industries, Inc. is a diversified industrial company that owns businesses providing products and services to the energy, chemical, agriculture, transportation, and construction sectors. The Company’s products and services include railcars and railcar parts; parts and steel components; the leasing, management, and maintenance of railcars; highway products; construction aggregates; inland barges; structural wind towers; steel utility structures; storage and distribution containers, and trench shields and shoring products. The Company’s segments include the Rail Group, Construction Products Group, Inland Barge Group, Energy Equipment Group, Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group, and All Other. Its All Other segment includes its captive insurance and transportation companies, and other peripheral businesses. It manufactures a line of railcars, including autorack cars, boxcars, covered hopper cars, gondola cars, intermodal cars, open hopper cars and tank cars.

My typical disclaimer says that I may or may not have a holding of the stocks discussed in this article. This would be a bit misleading for this particular article. You can assume that I am currently invested in every one of these stocks at the time of this writing.

The glass globe image at the top of this article is courtesy of suphakit73 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net