DAVE HARRIS: And welcome to podcast # 30. This is for Friday January 12^th 2006. I'm a long term private investor managing a diversified portfolio of stocks. Looks like some solid, positive economic news on Wall Street along with a steady drop in oil prices. But what's good for one thing isn't always the best for another. Bad for the oil stocks like Schlumberger (SLB) and Chevron (CVX) both hurting this week but good for retailers. I like Target (TGT) and Wal-Mart (WMT) nice gains there. And lower oil is good for a delivery company like FedEx (FDX). I have a BUY recommendation on the stock. Currently it's at about 107 dollars per share. I see FDX at 120 dollars.

A sharp decrease in unemployment benefits is sitting pretty well with investors. That number fell by 26,000 to 299,000 jobless claims. That number is the lowest in nearly 6 months. I think it's a good sign we're seeing strength in the workforce in the face of this cooling economy. From the commerce department there was a decline in the US trade deficit. This reflects the news that foreign oil is cheaper to bring in, and the export of commercial airplanes is on the rise. For November the deficit fell 1%. It was a comforting speech from Fed vice-chairman Donald Kohn on Monday who said there’s moderate growth and lower inflation in store for our economy. Ironically the Fed meeting minutes from December indicated to me that the Fed was a bit more hawkish on inflation and the state of the economy. It's not the most significant piece of data, but worth noting that consumer debt increased in November over 6%, that's more than expected. This just suggests that October was a bigger month for consumers to pay the bills. Overall I think the data looks pretty good this week. It’s further evidence of a cooling economy that's not too slow. I think oil is close to a bottom and I'd prepare to put some cash into the oil companies. Halliburton (HAL) is selling at a good price roughly 28 p/s. Remember they also get a chunk of their government revenue through the defense budget. Marathon Oil (MRO) is attractive at this price too around 83 p/s.

I like aluminum company Alcoa here at about 30. They had a good report this week with better sales and earnings results that both beat expectations special thanks to higher aluminum prices. Net income went up 60% and revenue was up 20% and above Wall Street expectations. EPS .74 beat by 9 cents. I see this stock at $38 per share. I would BUY Alcoa. The symbol is AA.

Biotech company Genentech, symbol DNA, is looking good here reporting a big jump in 4^th quarter profit by 70%. The results beat expectations with drug strong sales, especially LUCENTIS-the age related macular degeneration product. The company also expects double digit growth into this year. I think the stock is going to $105 p/s. Currently it's at about 87. I say BUY DNA.

Later this morning we have Retail sales figures for December. Also later this morning the commerce department reports on business sales and inventories.

That's all for today's show. I'm Dave Harris. Write me an email with any questions or comments at the "contact us" link on this page. My website is www.daveonstocks.com. Thanks for listening. This is Dave On Stocks!