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From: gdt@cbnscs.UUCP (thurman x4825)
Newsgroups: net.invest
Subject: A utility pick
Message-ID: <118@cbnscs.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 24-Mar-84 16:29:49 EST
Article-I.D.: cbnscs.118
Posted: Sat Mar 24 16:29:49 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Mar-84 21:03:36 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
Lines: 33

If its on the NYSE and/or pays a dividend, then chances are pretty
good I'm not interested; however, a good utility stock in an IRA sounds
like a decent thing to do.  A 10% appreciation accompanied by a 10%
yield gives you a 20% return doesn't it?

Utilities, be them electric or gas, just don't excite me.  And it really
bothers me that, even though I work for AT&T, I cannot offer an opinion
on which regional I think will do best (even though I like those that
are aggressively entering into the cellular telephone business - Ameritech
has Chicago up and going, plus it has that high-tech sort of sounding name).  
Anyway, one utility does appeal to me - Pacific Power and Light.  In addition 
to being your typical run of the mill electric utility, Pacific P&L owns 90%
of the outstanding stock in a company called Pacific Telecom, which
is a successful telephone utility operation that does business in our
great Northwest.  Also, Pacific P&L has considerable coal holdings.
Supposedly, holding on to coal right now is a little like having a
a nickel - it buys you little to nothing.  Nonetheless, coal may
not always be a value-less asset, it is an energy source, and
until we are guaranteed that alternative power sources are around and
available, coal could make a comeback.

Pacific P&L currently sells for 22 1/4 a share.  Its 52 week high has been
25 1/2, while its 52 week low was 20.  It has a running multiple of 5
and current yield of 9.7%.   I'm a Bull on the market and I think we will
see new highs before it goes sour.  When?  I don't know.  It could be 2,
even 3 years away.  In the interim, a nice yielding stock could make the
wait a little easier.  

P.S.  I do not make a market in Pacific Power and Light.


				Thurman
				Columbus Oh