IF I HAD TO CHOOSE FIVE.... I WOULD CHOOSE SIX (six is the absolute minimum for me)... IN ANY EVENT, I WOULD... PERHAPS, CHOOSE THESE FOR MAXIMUM DIVERSIFICATION:

HD (Retailer), COF (Financial), KO (Consumer Staple), BRK.B (Insurance/Conglomerate), VLO (Energy), and ASVI (Mid-Cap Construction)

If I needed a Seventh, I would definately throw in WMT (Retailer).

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REGARDING SOME STUFF I OWN:

HD - excellent performance; stock buybacks; leveraging to hike stock price
LOW - great company; growth prospects
COF - great company; stock buybacks; knows how to manage risks
WMT - lowest-cost retailer; market dominance; great value right now
BRK.B - unrelenting profit history; excellent brands; excellent management
VLO - energy play; getting into retailing and it dominates refining. Other energy plays might be APA and ARLP, which I also own.
BVN - gold play; been around; steady contracts
ASVI - construction play; makes stuff for CAT; small-to-mid-cap play
DLP - almost guaranteed money maker, but the rates could change depending on merger closing date
KO - great consumer staple; advertising on American Idol right now; guessing upcoming Super Bowl ad revolving around negative calorie beverage
SDS - an ultra S&P500 short as a hedge since this market looks ripe for decline
XEC - major insider buying; oil play

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REGARDING SOME STUFF I DON'T OWN:

CVH - Looks good, but upcoming Congress might hurt it
AAP - Looks good, but improved car quality might jeopardize the need to visit auto repair retailers.
EBAY - I love the company, but I think they should Focus and buy back stock if affordable.
GOOG - Too difficult for me.
ANF - Looks good, but price might have run up ahead of me
AEOS - Looks good, but same as ANF

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REGARDING STUFF I OWN BUT HAVEN'T MENTIONED AS WORTH BUYING RIGHT NOW:

BLG - Housing market still dying slow death
PTEN - Excellent value, but prior management stigmatized into "world of hatred"
CANI, DLP, KMI, PD, TUTS, UVN, YCC - Some arbitrage plays
JNJ - Holding the course; strong brand
NBR - I like the company, but it failed my recent tests
PSUN - Everything I sold so far was for a profit, the remainder is killing me, but not as much as my profits. The new management might help the stock further, so I'm going to hold my remainder.
NOK - Worried about Apple iphone, ifone, or whatever they're able to trademark into their next cell phone. As a technologist, I see the cell phone turning into the computer-accessory. If a cell phone company doesn't have a "locked-down and long-term" agreement with a major Operating System - they're finished. Here is where I might see NOK's "Achilles Heal".
WIRE - This stock has been a burden for me. GS owned ~11% of the company, but sold half their holding recently - while I was buying. I tried buying more of this today, but it shot up over 3%+ today. This stock is ~30% short, but it might be bottoming. Heavy shorting is a bad sign. However, I might continue adding if it drops, but I'm willing to add with any pullback.

I think I've commented on all my stocks. If I missed anything, let me know.

Thanks,

Vooch