Times flies by, eh?

All,

Believe it or not, only 6 weeks until I return to work. Boy that first twenty weeks just flew by. As a treat for my faithful four readers - a stock pick this week. I hope all is well in your worlds. Blessings,

Nate

Stock pick of the week (Ok of the month. There I said it):
My friends - at this point, I hope you're contemplating selling ANYTHING you don't consider a long-term investment. This week was the last gasp of the bull market and your last chance to get out of any short-term investments (or stocks/funds at or near 52-week highs). The Federal Reserve (Boris the Blade & Co.) have unconscionably continued to cut interest rates in effort to encourage US bond investments (aka China) and domestic real estate. Based upon Chairman (Boris) Bernanke's comments yesterday (see below), a bear market is very, very, very likely in our near future.

Stocks have closed sharply lower after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress the economy will grow at a "sluggish" pace. Bernanke said Thursday the economy will pick up later in the year. He also indicated the central bank will continue to lower interest rates. But the Fed chairman said the housing and credit crises have weighed on the economy and curbed hiring. And if the job market deteriorates, consumers will keep paring their spending. Consumer spending is crucial for economic growth.

Continued interest rate cuts? Why? So people can continue to be attracted to purchase properties they potentially can't afford? We are prolonging the inevitable real estate bust here, but if you are planning on buying a house do it very SOON and buy something you can potentially AFFORD or UNLOAD quickly in a worst case scenario.

What to do with your investments in the meantime? Three recommendations for you: Cash, Bonds (or bond funds), dividend-paying stocks and value stocks (a bit later). In the short-term, I'd suggest to sell any investments you've made that are facing shareholder action (ebay) or will be significantly impacted by the economic downturn (Bank of America, Wamu) and put your assets into cash & bonds and await the imminent bloodbath. However, if you feel the need to invest now, let me recommend this great dividend-paying stock: Verizon (VZ, 4% dividend yield or .40/share). They are currently near their 52-week low (37) and have very interests in every telecommunications market segment.