In Focus

The Sky Has Fallen

My sister, Chick Jana, just called and said, "You know, I really think we should address the current market situation on the website. It's great that we're writing about all these wonderful companies and pulling them through the Chicks' Dozen, but Karin, get your head out of your butt. The sky is falling. Write about it."

Wow. Talk about overreacting! Kind of reminds me of that over-the-top drama queen, Henny Penny. You know the one, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" chick from the tale of Chicken Little.

Whenever I would read the phrase, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling," I'd giggle. I knew that harebrained Henny Penny was over-reacting. What was with her? Silly Chick. I now know that it was probably just her time of the month and all she had to do was lay a few eggs and she would relax a bit.

Aha... lay some eggs... relax a bit. Chicks Laying Nest Eggs. When the sky is falling and panic is about to set in, it's time for us to lay some eggs.

Calling all Henny's! You too, Cocky Locky. Come along Ducky Daddles and Goosie Poosie! Let's lay some eggs and try to relax a little. Never ever ever in the history of my long-legged life has there been a better time to buy. The sky has fallen, and we need to capitalize on it.

With the Dow going below 9400, and the Nasdaq in the 1800's, it's time to seriously look at investing your little nest in some solid eggs. If you don't understand the numbers I just typed, what I'm saying is, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index which holds the largest thirty companies in the U.S., has dropped more than 18% in the last year. The S & P 500 (average of largest 500 companies) has fallen 28% and the Nasdaq (the average of top technology companies) is down more than 63%. The sky has hit rock bottom. There's nowhere to go butt (hee-hee) up.

But where do you start looking for the biggest bargain basement sales? Or, in market terminology, where do you start looking for the biggest values. What stocks are still strong companies but have fallen victim to the market crash? By no means am I going to recommend that you buy the following companies, but it's a great place to start looking for values. We've written in the Chicks Eye View about the following companies, and in some cases we've pulled them through the Chicks Dozen criteria. Take a look at them; spend some time thinking about where you would be most comfortable (and eggcited) about putting your money. I've calculated how much each company has fallen over the past year so you can see which are the greatest clearance items. But remember, don't buy something just because it's the best deal, buy something that you are comfortable owning for the long term.

Yahoo (YHOO) -93%

Barnes & Noble (BNBN) - 89%

Broadcom (BRCM) - 87%

Amazon (AMZN) - 87%

JDS Uniphase (JDSU) - 85%

Nortel (NT) - 80%

Cisco (CSCO) -76%

Sun Microsystems (SUNW) - 72%

Oracle (ORCL) - 68%

EMC (EMC) - 67%

Peets Coffee (PEET) - 67%

Alpharma (ALO) - 62%

Nokia (NOK) - 61%

The Gap (GPS) - 57%

Riddell Sports (RDL) - 55%

Kenneth Cole (KCP) - 54%

Limited Too (TOO) - 54%

AOLTimeWarner (AOL) - 52%

Viacom (VIA) - 48%

Home Depot (HD) - 45%

Intimate Brands (IBI) - 43%

Steve Madden (SHOO) - 42%

Sports Authority (TSA) - 40%

General Electric (GE) - 39%

Estee Lauder (EL) - 39%

Amgen (AMGN) - 37%

Krispy Kreme (KREM) - 37%

California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI) - 36%

Proctor and Gamble (PG) - 31%

Medtronic (MDT) - 31%

Merck (MRK) - 30%

Stein Mart (SMRT) - 29%

Warner Lambert - 29%

Pfizer (PFE) - 29%

American Eagle (AEOS) - 24%

Starbucks (SBUX) - 24%

Kelloggs (K) - 20%

Philip Morris (MO) -19%

3M (MMM) - 19%

Ralph Lauren (RL) - 17%

Church and Dwight (CHD) -16%

Berkshire Hathoway (BRK.A) - 14%

Quiksilver (ZQK) - 14%

Toys R Us (TOY) - 13%

Diageo Plc (DEO) - 13%

Hormel Foods (HRL) - 12%

H&R Block (HRB) - 10%

General Mills (GIS) - 10%

Mattel (MAT) - 8%

Hershey (HSY) - 4%

Wouldn't you just know that when the sky falls, we all turn to chocolate. Hershey's is down only 4%, when the rest of the market has tumbled like rock candy. Start looking at the people around you... are they too consuming too much chocolate in this time of stress. (Or maybe they are buying toys... Mattel ain't doin' too bad either.)

This is just a starting point for you to find good solid companies to invest in that are on sale. The investors who have become the biggest millionaires know that when there are times like this, "Henny Penny Panic" bottom market statistics, it is time to invest. When are you ever going to get a company like Cisco at 76% off it's high? Or Nokia at 61% off? How about GE at 39% off? Amgen down 37%??

Yes, the sky has fallen, but I've just pulled my head out of my butt and am making a bold statement. Buy. Buy something good. Invest your nest when the time is best. The time is now.

So Sister Chickie Jana, Gander Pander, Turkey Lurkey and Foxy Loxy... we are writing about some wonderful companies and not just for the sake of sharing a fable. It's a great place to start looking for some good eggs when the sky has fallen lower than my sagging butt.