Rising stars and black holes: a few tips for 2005

Rich Bernstein (Merrill Lynch)
Ameren: Smart utilities play, 5.1% dividend
Dominion Resources: Solid dividend with an energy trading kick

Susan Byrne (Westwood Holdings)
Exxon: Oil rally is far from over, stocks look cheap even at $25 oil. Rich dividends.
Chevron Texaco

Marc Faber(Gloom, Boom, Doom Report)
BAT Malasia: Not economically sensitive. Nice dividend
Corn The cheapest agricultural commodity

Larry Feinberg (Oracle Partners)
Elan: MS drug"candidate for the biggest drug of all times"

Fred Hickey (High-Tech Strategist newsletter)
SNORT eBay: "eBay isn't priced for perfection, it's priced for catastrophe"

Ben Inker (Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo)
Emerging Market Stocks: Trukey, Korea and Indonesia are favourites

Eric Hovde (Hovde Capital)
Westcorp: A P/E of 10, and a focus of credit quality

Bob Howard (Positive Patterns newsletter)
Rayonier Timberland: Timber will shine, 'this stock could double'

John Connor (Third Millennium Russia Fund)
Severstal: Steel is booming, 6% dividend, genius at the helm

Bruce Berkowitz (Fairholme Capital Management)
Berkshire Hathaway: Priced as if Buffett "has already left the building'. Stock could hit $130,000
MCI: "Telecom is the sector that rises from the ashes'

Mark Haefele (Sonic Capital)
Small-cap steel stocks: Cheaper than the big names, poised to gain from heavy demand

Russell Platt (Dividend Capital Realty Income fund)
LaSalle Hotel Properties: A macro-economic and business travel play
Kite Realty: Good defensive play, rich dividend