Insider Buying/Technicals Say To Nibble On Alcoa

By Bret Jensen:Finding value in this market is getting much harder than it was several months before the big rally -- including today's bump up after the latest "sugar high" delivered by Helicopter Ben. However, there are still some pockets of value out there for those willing to look. I like the ag sector right now as it has had some worries about the recent massive drought, but still sports very low valuations.

By Bret Jensen:Although all the indexes are still up for the year, there has been a long of damage in some industry sectors, especially those that deal with the commodity complex. Falling commodity prices and slowing worldwide growth have significantly impacted the stocks in this area. However, investors with a long term time horizon can find numerous bargains in this currently unloved space.

By Bret Jensen: "Every morning, I get up and look through the 'Forbes' list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work" - Robert Orben

By Bret Jensen:Cyclical stocks have hammered their investors mercilessly over the last few months on slowing European economic activity and worries about a slowdown in China. The steel sector has been one of the hardest hit areas sectors within the cyclical space.

Bret Jensen submits:When I look for prospective investments, one of the key things I look for is a company's operating cash flow. I do this for two reasons. First, operating cash flow is harder to manipulate and gives a truer picture of an expanding business than EPS. In addition, the growth in operating cash flow should roughly equal the growth of EPS over time. In a perfect world, the EPS and CF should be moving up together with a strong correlation.

By Bret Jensen:The energy sector has been a painful place for investors to be over the past quarter. However, it appears that energy prices are stabilizing and the stocks in the space are behaving better in the market over the last few trading sessions. Some equities, in addition to having cheap valuations, are starting to attract significant insider buying. One such firm is Stone Energy (SGY).

By Bret Jensen:The market has taken out energy & material stocks to the woodshed over the last two months. This has created myriad long term bargains in these sectors for patient investors. Some stocks have fallen over 30% over the last couple of months despite rising earnings estimates and now sell for extremely low valuations that are enticing insiders to step up and gobble up their own shares.

By Bret Jensen:The last few months have not been kind to General Electric (GE). Concerns about slowing worldwide growth and the ongoing European debt crisis have conspired to knock 25% off its stock price. However, GE’s solid and growing dividend, low valuation and technical support levels should put a floor under its stock price at current levels.