Markets Making A Monkey Out of You?

Monk (not to be confused with the obsessive detective of the USA television show) works for the Chicago Sun-Times. He picks stocks, and he reportedly has a winning track record over the past four years. He’s not obsessed with money. In fact, he works for peanuts…and bananas, among other things.

Monk happens to be a cerebus monkey, and he serves as the inspiration for the Sun-Times Monkey Manager stock-picking contest, “celebrating the wisdom of the everyday investor and primate.’

Monk’s a bit of a traditionalist in his stock-picking approach. At 35, he still crawls over newspaper stock pages and marks his five favorites with a pen. And, according to the Sun-Times, in the four years since Monk has chaired and inspired the Sun-Times stock-picking contest, his stocks have posted annual returns that beat the major indexes each time – earning 37%, 36%, 3%, and last year, 36%.

His picks for 2007? Health care looms large, he apparently has an eye on ladies’ fashions – and he even has an exchange-traded fund in the lot. However odd the apparent combination, it’s hard to argue with his track record.

Here’s the lot:

• Cygne Designs
  Ticker: CYDS
  Business: Women’s clothes
• Fresh Del Monte Produce
  Ticker: FDP
  Business: Fresh fruits, vegetables
• West Pharmaceutical Services
  Ticker: WST
  Business: Health care packaging, testing
• American Medical Systems Holdings
  Ticker: AMMD
  Business: Urological disorder devices
• Market 200 HOLDRS
  Ticker: MKH
  Business: Shares of 50 large-caps