Dividend Appreciation And Growth Strategy Provides Veteran Stock Picker From Emerson Investment Management With Ammunition To Beat The Market Over Long Term

• On 4:39 pm EDT, Wednesday October 21, 2009

67 WALL STREET, New York - October 21, 2009 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its TWST Investing Strategies Report offering a timely review of the global equities markets to serious investors and industry executives. This 34 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with Award Winning Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Top-down and Bottom-up Opportunities-Active Management-Multiple Asset Allocation-Tactical Asset Allocation-Canadian Stocks-Debt/Equity Ratios-Qualitative and Quantitative Approach-Large Cap Opportunistic Value-Low Valuation-Sustainability of Return-Price-to-Earnings-Price-to-Book Value Basis-Uncovering Compelling Values-High Returns on Investment

Companies include: Agrium (AGU); Airgas (ARG); American Express (AXP); Anadarko Petroleum (APC); Analog Devices (ADI); Avnet (AVT); BCE Inc. (BCE); Bank of America (BAC); Bank of Montreal (BMO); Broadcom (BRCM); CVS Caremark (CVS); Canadian National Railway (CNI); Chevron (CVX); Cisco (CSCO); Conoco (COP); Devon Energy (DVN); Disney (DIS); Enbridge (ENB); Garmin (GRMN); Genzyme (GENZ); Johnson Controls (JCI); McKesson (MCK); Medtronic (MDT); Mettler-Toledo (MTD); Microsoft (MSFT); Monster Worldwide (MWW); Morgan Stanley (MS); Mosaic Corp (MOS); Novellus (NVLS); Omnicare (OCR); Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (POT); Shoppers Drug Mart (SC); Tim Hortons (THI); Time Warner (TWX); TransAlta (TAC); TransCanada (TRP); Tyco International (TYC); Valero (VLO); Wal-Mart (WMT); Walgreen's (WAG); Wendy's (WEN); Western Union (WU); Yahoo! (YHOO); Zimmer (ZMH); asterCard (MA); eBay (EBAY).

In the following brief excerpt from just one of the indepth interviews in the 34 page report, a top tier money manager discusses the outlook for the market and picks some stocks for investors.

Paul A. Tryon, CFA is Director of Equity Investments at Emerson Investment Management, Inc. He leads the Dividend Appreciation and Growth strategy teams. He provides fundamental research for Emerson's equity products and is a member of the Investment Strategy Committee. He has over 12 years investment experience both on Wall Street and as an investment manager. Prior to joining Emerson, he performed equity research as a vice president at First Albany Capital and structured financial transactions as an investment banking analyst at FleetBoston (now Bank of America). A Chartered Financial Analyst, he is a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Security Analysts Society. He is a graduate of Yale University.

TWST: Would you tell us about some of the growth opportunities that you have found in this market over the last few months and the reasons why you were attracted to them?

Mr. Tryon: One of the individual investments that we're very excited about is MasterCard (MA). MA is fundamentally sound. It's not a bank, so there is no credit risk. It has very low leverage and its return on equity is very attractive. We see transaction volume picking up, particularly internationally, as people adopt debit cards. MasterCard should benefit directly from our theme of international growth and also supports our thesis on a changing financial landscape. On the healthcare side, we think system reform will increase the demand for healthcare services in general. As the nation's largest pharmaceutical distributor, McKesson (MCK) should directly benefit from these changes. The company should also get a margin benefit from its investments in healthcare technology. On the technology side, Broadcom (BRCM) is one of our favorite companies because of its semiconductor innovations. Broadcom chipsets increase the functionality of devices by combining applications into what it calls a "system on a chip". This integrated approach allows the prices for some consumer devices to come down while maintaining the attractive functions that people want. This is a huge factor in consumer electronics. On the energy and material side, we like an industrial gas company called Airgas (ARG). They deliver industrial gases to a diverse group of industries, like nitrous oxide to hospitals. They are growing quickly internally and through acquisitions by taking advantage of the current low valuations in the market. We think the company is in a good position to outpace its peers and the broader market over the next few years.

TWST: Are there any areas that you have reduced your exposure that you are deliberately underweighting?

Mr. Tryon: Yes. I think it is tough right now in the consumer area. Some consumer stocks have been great performers in the recent rally and we have participated in that. But when you look at the consumer over the next few years, they have an awful lot of debt to pay back and the prospect of rolling debt over - like an ARM that will reset - is a frightening prospect for people considering the uncertainty in the employment market. Even if the stock market comes back and the housing market picks up, incremental consumption will be difficult. Eventually, incomes will start to rise but that additional income will be split between reducing debt and consumption.

TWST: What about the sell discipline? What triggers an exit from your portfolio?

Mr. Tryon: First and foremost, we want our investments to achieve their price targets. When a stock achieves our price target it normally means that our catalysts have been exhausted and as a result the stock is sold. On the downside, there are a number of fundamental issues that would cause us to reduce a position including a dividend cut, suspended dividend growth, a negative earnings-surprise or a reduced earnings outlook. These are fundamental changes that should not be ignored. We may also move on if the stock underperforms the benchmark or the peer group.

The Wall Street Transcript is a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs and research analysts. This 34 page special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online .

The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewees nor does it make stock recommendations.

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