Walter Frank Recommends the Following Mutual Fund: Fidelity Low-Priced Stock Fund

Business Wire, Jan 14, 2003

Business Editors

CHICAGO, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 14, 2003

Investors are likely to catch a few breaks in 2003, as market expert Walter Frank sees the economy acting much better. Use a small-cap stock fund recommendation and his outlook for the year to generate above-average returns at a reduced risk with mutual funds. Read his take on Fidelity Low-Priced Stock (OTC:FLPSX). Click here for the full story exclusively on Zacks.com: http://featuredexpert2bw.zacks.com/

Here are the highlights from the Featured Expert column:

Walter Frank brings much better news for this year. This is the year that the bearish string will be broken. The question in his mind is not whether stocks will rise in 2003, but by how much. His view is at the upper end of the range of the consensus estimate which calls for an 18% gain in the S&P 500 during 2003.

The basic trigger for Frank's optimism is simple. The economy is going to do better. Profits have already begun to increase, and they will increase even more with a favorable economic wind behind them. Stock valuations, contrary to the bears, are not expensive when we look at forward earnings.

Fidelity Low-Priced Stock: A Long-Term Winner

That Fidelity Low-Priced Stock (OTC:FLPSX) continues to trounce its small-cap blend fund competition defies logic. Low-Priced Stock is mammoth, with $15 billion in assets and more than 800 individual holdings. At first glance, 2002 returns may not seem that impressive, as the fund declined 6.2%--its first down year since 1990. But it performed significantly better than its average peer, which lost 16%.

The fund manager's most basic requirement for an investment is solid (but not necessarily rapid) growth. Moreover, the company must have something proprietary --a product or service, or a unique position. The fund has a substantial number of stocks--more than 800 at last count. But given the size of the fund, that number is needed for adequate diversification and to reduce the risk level in the fund. The manager's efforts to reduce risk have not gone unnoticed. The fund sports the lowest 10-year standard deviation (a measure of risk) within its category, yet also the best 10-year return.

Get Walter Frank's complete outlook for 2003 and view the total Fund Scorecard and Recommendations listings, along with the "Moneyletter Guide to Investing in Mutual Funds" special report, by clicking: http://featuredexpert3bw.zacks.com/

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