Of the equity research blogs, Bespoke Investment Group has been consistently publishing some of the most informed and actionable market research over the past 18 months. Paul Hickey and Justin Walters, the two co-founders of Bespoke, recently sat down with Barron's and offered their current take on the current market and highlighted stocks that could rally in 2009.

While pointing out several times that this market has been "especially hard to analyze," both Hickey and Walters lay out the various indicators they are following -- such as the yield curve, market volatility, corporate earnings, and which sectors are leading the market higher at any one time. During the worst of the financial crisis, they were advising a cash position of 70%. Now, slowly tip-toeing back into the market, they have adjusted their model portfolio to 22% cash and 78% equities.

Bespoke Investment Group is cautiously optimistic about emerging markets ("emerging market countries have really started to turn around"). In addition, they are keeping an eye out for stocks that failed to make a new low in the most recent leg down from January to early March: "This tells us that even during what can only be classified as a miserable period for equities, these stocks have support." Hickey and Walters are currently recommending the following stocks: MasterCard, ADM, Altria and Intel.


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[image: Paul Hickey and Justin Walters of Bespoke Investment Group]