Some plays in this volatile stock market

Sunday 3/2/08 5:46 pm CT

By Dave Harris

So much negative sentiment the last week makes it hard to be bullish in this tough market. I was hoping personal spending would come in a little better, but it wasn't all that bad. Spending rose .4 percent in January when you consider inflationary pressures. Consumer sentiment for last month was encouraging, with a reading over 70 from the University of Michigan. That was slightly above expectations. But we had a good share of downbeat news. The testimony from Ben Bernanke last week indicated smaller banks face significant risk of failing. We also heard the insurer American International Group (AIG) had a worse than expected loss of over $5 billion in the quarter. The volatility continues on Wall Street, yet I have some good places to put your money.

Spring is right around the corner, and fashion will be on the high-end shopper's minds.  Nordstrom (JWS) said the holiday was rough and quarterly profit fell over 8 percent, however the results were above expectations. Investors expected much worse. I think this retailer is gong to surprise to the upside, and as a more speculative play I would recommend buying the stock at $37.

Google (GOOG) said paid clicks were flat, so the stock has been suffering. If you're long term, the stock is looking pretty attractive here at only $471. You’ll be glad you got it at this price!

I want to draw your attention to a nice water utility company, Aqua America (WTR). Last week the company said earnings declined 3 percent in the quarter. Costs were high and earnings missed by a penny. But, revenue rose to over 149 million.  This company is not immune to the housing slowdown. Rate increases will provide further profitability, I believe. This company is growing, with over 25 acquisitions last year and real customer growth. I have a buy recommendation on this stock. It's at $19, and it’s going to $30 this year!

There are no significant corporate earnings in the week ahead, but the granddaddy of economic news called the Jobs report is due this Friday. Perhaps this will give some much needed upside to stocks should results be favorable, or maybe not. Keep yourself diversified in your portfolio and you will weather the storm, recession or not.