2016 Investments

Introduction
    The following recommendations for 2016 investments were provided by a Panel of Investors including value investor John Buckingham, editor of "The Prudent Speculator"; Richard Lehmann, fixed-income columnist and editor of "Forbes/Lehmann Income Securities Investor" and "Forbes ISA Closed End and ETF Report."  The discussion ranged from Fed policy, to the virtues of value investing vs. growth, biotech stocks; Apple Computer, which two panelists thought was a buy, and Tesla, which no one thought was worth its current price.
Seagate Technologies (STX)
    In a recent article on Forbes Buckingham cites Apple and Seagate as his two favorite tech stocks.  During the panel he singled out Seagate, which along with Western Digital (WDC) is a major storage provider in the form of disk and solid state drives found in pc an mobile devices.  It's stock is down 40% this year thanks to slower pc sales and increased competition.  Still, Buckingham likes it's excellent balance sheet and dominant position in a critical business.
Ensco PLC (ESV)
    Ensco is a large offshore oil and gas driller and like Seagate is unloved by investors these days, due to the downturn in offshore drilling.  Shares are down 56% in the last 12 months.  The company is profitable and has an excellent fleet according to Buckingham as well as a $6.6 billion backlog.  ESV trades at a rock bottom 7 times forward earnings and has a 3.3% yield.
Roadrunner Transportation Systems (RRTS)
    This Cudahy, Wisconsin Transportation and truckload logistics provider is down more than 50% year to date, in part due to weak earnings, but it is still a great buy.  "If you assume that profits fall another 15% next year before stabilizing, the company would still earn more than it did in 2010 and 2011-its first two years as a public company-by a wide margin.  Yet in neither of those years did the stock trade below where it is right now."  The trades for less than 8 times the estimate for 2016.
Everi Holdings (EVRI)
    Las Vegas based Everi is a company that makes slot machines and other electronic high def video based gambling machines like "Yardbirds and Antony & Cleopatra."  It also is in the business of making the kiosks that provide cash to gamblers on the casino floor.  Thus, Evri is about as much of a guarantee in the ubiquity and growth of destination video game gambling as it gets.  A recent earnings slip caused its shares to fall 50%.  The stock sells for 5 times the estimate for 2016.
Deckers Outdoor (DECK)
    Deckers Outdoor is a treasure trove of strong casual footwear brands including UGG, Teva, and Sanuk.  The company, based out of Goleta, California, was originally founded by a UC Santa Barbara graduate in 1973, and continues to push a hippie vibe that promotes surf culture, diversity, and its considerable charitable endeavors.  Unfortunately Wall Street hasn't very chill about it's recent earnings and revenue weaknesses.  The stock is off 36% year to date but the panel sees growth ahead and loves it's debt free balance sheet.
  
References:
1. Schifrin, M. (Ed.). (2015, November 8). 9 Best Stock Ideas For 2016: Deep Discounts For Income And Growth. Retrieved November 11, 2015.