Jim answered questions today, they were as follows:

• It was asked if the fact that Caterpillar Inc (CAT) generating 50% of revenues overseas was a good substitute for having 20% of holding in foreign stocks. Jim thought that this was a step in the right direction. He prefers investors own at least one foreign based company in a portfolio. Two stocks he recommended were Toyota Motor Corp (TM) and Diageo (DEO).
• Jim was asked if he likes Marathon Oil (MRO) or Devon Energy (DVN) better. His response was that the two companies serve two different niches of the energy market so care must be taken when comparing head to head. Both stocks were called attractive if energy commodity prices have truly bottomed out.
• The formula used for figuring out a reasonable P/E ratio for high growth stocks like Google (GOOG) or NYSE Group, Inc. (NYX) was asked for. Jim thinks that the stocks deserve to trade at two times their growth rate. You must keep in mind that this area of the market is very fluid and the underlying earnings expectations can change quickly.
• Even with Alcoa Inc (AA) not being a favorite, is it too cheap to ignore these days? Jim is not a fan of the CEO and the aluminum company. The stock is trading at 11 times expected full year earnings and they continue to use the excess cash to pay off dividends and buy back stock. In the metals space only a few major players are left and they could get bought out at the discounted levels.