Ken Fisher's Latest Stock Picks

In the latest issue of Forbes Magazine, money manager and billionaire Ken Fisher gave a list of stocks that he currently likes.

Being a contrarian, he thinks that the economy is not as bad as the media make it out to be. In fact, he thinks that there might currently be a reverse bubble, where only bad news is being noticed.

For example, he notes that the media does not mention that the S&P 500's dividend yield (3.74% on October 13) has exceeded the yield on a 10-year treasury for the first time since 1958.

Also, he says that business inventories were at record lows during the start of the recession. This should help make the recession milder.

Finally, because stocks are so cheap, a large bull market should develop.

He doesn't know when it will happen so, depending on your risk tolerance, you can own big, safer stocks or smaller, risky ones.

His 5 stocks picks:

1. Logitech (LOGI) - this Swiss firm (with American ADRs) is small, but is the leader for PC peripherals (mice, keyboards, trackballs, etc). The stock is down 65% this year, but profits are up 5%. So, Fisher thinks it is cheap at eight times 2008 earnings and one times revenue.

2. Cisco Systems(CSCO) - A bigger and safer choice than Logitech. Here, you are getting the world's leading supplier of data-networking hardware / software for noly ten times 2009 earnings. He thinks it will fully participate in the next rally.

3. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) - this is the world's second largest drug and vaccine maker. Fisher thinks that it is way too cheap at its current price (less than two times revenue, a dividend yield of 6%, less than 10 times 2008 earnings).

4. France Telecom (FTE) - France is doing better than the rest of Europe, and this stock is trading very cheaply - "at a price only a pessimist can justify".

5. John Wiley and Sons (JW.A) - This is a small, but well managed and low risk, book publisher. Fisher says its revenues are growing - and are derived from an established portfolio of expert books in the fields of science, technical, medical and Financial. The stock is currently selling cheaply for 10 times its estimated 2009 earnings.