Friday Stock Screens: Shield of Yield
March 13, 2008
As discussed in Chapter 2 of The Disciplined Investor, stock screens can be used effectively to help search for stocks that can help to provide downside protection while positioning a portfolio for the upturn if /when markets stabilize. The fact is that the key in this environment is to look for large cap stocks paying dividends with:
- Low Debt
- PEG Ratio below 1
- Stable outlook
- High Rating Read more
Special Report: Investing During an Economic Downturn
February 27, 2008
By popular demand….
Looking for the latest report : Investing During an Economic Downturn !
The latest from “The Shield of Yield” - 18 Stocks
Friday Stock Screen: 25 Highest Yield from S&P 500
January 25, 2008
A simple list of the top 25 highest yield stocks from the S&P 500. It is a good time to look for deep value and many of the names produced by these types of screens will provide just that. Be careful not to fall into the trap of chasing yield as that is a sure-fire way of losing hard earned capital.
Look at the list as a starting point for more research.
Finally, with the markets showing great headwinds in front of it, many of the names toward the top of the list may need to be reviewed from a debt and capital standpoint. Make sure the none of these are overburdened with debt as it could become a problem for the dividend into the future.

(ACAS) (ABK) (CZN) (HBAN) (WIN) (WB) (DDR) (RF) (FITB) (AIV) (BAC) (CMA) (NYT) (EQ) (KEY) (BBT) (LEG) (GGP) (PFE) (EQR) (AEE) (PGN) (USB) (MI) (NCC) (TEG)
Disclosure: Horowitz & Company clients may have positions in stocks mentioned in this article.
Friday Stock Screen : Great Expectations for Profits
January 18, 2008
It is Friday afternoon and the markets have not been fun to watch. It has been a long week… So, what better way to spend the day than doing some research and combing through a few stock screens. Here is one that may help to generate some ideas.
According to the MSN Money screener, “This search should appeal particularly to “value” investors, but it is biased toward smaller companies and looks across all sectors. It includes parameters such as high return on investment and low debt to equity ratio in order to set a quality bar. The result: Beaten-up stocks with a lot of potential growth ahead.”
Remember, this should be used for idea generation as the market throwing curve-balls and it is hard to trust any one strategy these days.
Criteria for Screen:
P/E Ratio: Current <= 20
Market Capitalization <= $1 billion
Debt to Equity Ratio <= 0.5
EPS Growth Next 5 Yr >= 20
Return on Equity >= 10
Price/Sales Ratio <= 2
Results: (HSOA) (FRPT) (NTRI) (AEIS) (BRNC) (LNDC) (SMMX) (EXFO) (SLXP)(SIMG) (CTRN) (VVTV) (FMR) (TRID) (VLCM) (ASTE) (ETEL) (GIII) (TWGP) (GIFI) (PRX) (SNHY) (NVTL) (RECN) (HDIX)
Learn how to create and implement stock screens for profitable results.
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Horowitz & Company Clients do not hold positions in stocks mentioned.
SAPI Slugs 2008 - Quant Screen Results
November 29, 2007
S&P Index Slugs (SAPI Slugs) Adapted from Pages 44-45 of The Disciplined Investor - Essential Strategies for Success
According to MSN Money, this simple but effective value search presents a pure yield play. It is similar but potentially superior to the better-known “Dogs of the Dow” search we reviewed on November 14th because it draws from a wider pool of large-cap stocks and includes a secondary financial-strength overlay.
The search was also developed and tested by money manager and author Jim O’Shaughnessy. The strategy calls for buying the top 20 stocks from the result set of this search, ranked by dividend yield. These should be held for 1 year and then rescreened and rebalanced. It can be combined with O’Shaughnessy’s Momentum Growth search to create a balanced 30-stock, 1-year portfolio. This search criteria and others are available in the stock screener section of the MSN Money website and can also be downloaded from The Disciplined Investor website. Below is the criteria used to create the screen with the MSN Money Deluxe Screener.

The theory of using more than one screen is to allow for greater diversification within the portfolio. This way, if one particular screening method is sorely out of favor, the other may help to avoid massive losses. In his research, O’Shaughnessy built portfolios for one year each. Translated, this means that once you buy the resulting stocks and effectively hold them for 52 weeks, you can rerun the screen to find the stocks to include in the next cycle.For most individual investors, this is a tedious task and can result in excessive trading fees. Also, as has been discussed, the tax implications alone could be extremely detrimental to a portfolio’s performance. This is precisely why these methods are often used within tax-deferred accounts along with additional fundamental overlays. Suffice it to say that these screens should be used as initial idea generators, not as absolute methodologies.
Click Table to Enlarge
The theory of using more than one screen is to allow for greater diversification within the portfolio. This way, if one particular screening method is sorely out of favor, the other may help to avoid massive losses. In his research, O’Shaughnessy built portfolios for one year each. Translated, this means that once you buy the resulting stocks and effectively hold them for 52 weeks, you can rerun the screen to find the stocks to include in the next cycle. For most individual investors, this is a tedious task and can result in excessive trading fees.
Also, as has been discussed, the tax implications alone could be extremely detrimental to a portfolio’s performance. This is precisely why these methods are often used within tax-deferred accounts along with additional fundamental overlays. Suffice it to say that these screens should be used as initial idea generators, not as absolute methodologies.
This chart shows a 1-Year price performance for the 10 highest yielding stocks within the SAPI Slugs using the above screening criteria.
* There are many more screens along with additional strategies available within the pages of The Disciplined Investor.Note: Horowitz & Company clients may hold long or short positions in any position mentioned.
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