Consumer Stocks Remain Quite Unpredictable

Dow

Theory Forecasts

Consumer stocks are traditionally toughto gauge, as they fluctuate seemingly atrandom, and even financial experts havedifficulty getting a handle on them. Whilehigh energy bills are tightening budgets,the slowing of the housing market and astronger job market are helping to prop upconsumer confidence. The newsletter suggests physician-investorsbuy the following consumergiants for the long-term:

Lost

Desperate Housewives

•Disney. With theme park attendanceon the upswing and hit television showssuch as and on their ABC network, Disney is experiencinga nice rebound. Their acquisition of thehighly successful animated film studioPixar should be a boon to their film unit foryears to come.

•Gannett. This media giant publishesover 100 daily newspapers and over 800nondaily publications, as well as 21 televisionstations. Their ad revenue is gainingsolid ground, and consensus estimatespredict 3% growth through 2007.

•Wal-Mart. The discount retail kingwill be adding 500 supercenters throughthe end of 2007, expanding its thrivinggrocery business. They are also testing chicversions of their supercenters, with finerjewelry, expanded wine selections, andpremium food products.