Last update - 00:00 08/02/2008
Do's and don'ts for shares
By Sarit Menahem
The favorite stock among the analysts is without doubt Elbit Systems, which returned 70% in 2007, and 24% of the analysts think its stock will star this year too, thanks to its fat orders backlog and upbeat forecasts. (Elbit Systems stock, however, has lost 10% this year so far.)
Second is Teva, with 21% of the analysts. The drug company did well in 2007.
Another stockpick is fertilizers and bromine-products maker Israel Chemicals (ICL), but it moved from first to third place with 16% of the votes.
The Israel Corporation got 10% of the votes, and Oil Refineries made its debut in the list of top stock picks with a 7% vote from analysts.
The list of stocks to shun includes many that have lost much ground in recent months, and stars in first place none other than Bank Hapoalim. It won the dubious distinction of having 18% of the analysts advise against picking it for your portfolio.
Analysts also advised against it in mid-2007, simply because they had cooled on the entire banking sector, but now it's "personal": the reason being Hapoalim's exposure to the mortgage and credit problems pervading world markets through its investment in derivatives. The bank has had to write off hundreds of millions of dollars in investments, and its stock has dropped by 22% since November.
VeriFone also figures highly on the list of the dogs: 13% think it's a stock to avoid, and it's already lost 60% of its value in the last two months because of a plunge in profitability, discovered after accounting mistakes were revealed.
Another stock in the doghouse is Lev Leviev's Africa Israel, with eight percent of the analysts unimpressed. For the last six months the stock has been highly volatile, and investors aren't thrilled with the frequent management changes, the last being the departure of CEO Erez Meltzer because of differences of opinion with controlling shareholder Leviev. There's still no permanent CEO in place and, possibly, investors may be dismayed at Leviev's decision to move his residence to London.