[Rain Man]

In my current philosophy, I struggle with recommending stocks, because my system of picking is laughable. In terms of recommending, do I talk up stocks that have taken a beating and should turn around, or stocks that are making a run and may be running out of steam? I never know.

That said, here are a few that I like, in no particular order:

TTWO - You know them as the makers of Grand Theft Auto. They don't pay a dividend and I bought them before my dividend strategy was embraced. But wow - this company would've made me affluent if I'd just kept my original holdings and not sold any off. It's quintupled in the last five years.

CODI - Holding company for a bunch of products I've never heard of. The stock price never moves, but it pays an 8%+ dividend. In the current bull market that's not a winner, but in the long run it is.

CVGW - Avocado grower. Pays a 1.3% dividend, and it just always goes up for me.

SEP - Natural gas pipeline company. It's down over the past couple of years, but it pays almost a 7 percent dividend and I keep thinking it'll turn around. I got a good runup three or four years ago.

PSX - I've read that Phillips 66 is more of a refiner than a producer, so they're less volatile to oil prices. Pays a 2.8% dividend.

RCL or CUK - Lots of baby boomers retiring with money, so I like cruise lines, and they countercycle with oil prices. RCL pays a 1.9% dividend and CUK pays 2.8%

MPW - REIT that leases medical office space. Pays a 7.1% dividend. Kind of like CODI above, in that the stock price doesn't move but it returns more than inflation.

GOOG - Probably everyone should have some Google at this point.

NDSN - As near as I can tell, they make nozzles and things for spraying stuff in industrial use. (Shrug.) 0.8% dividend, but it's done well for me. You may have missed the boat on it since it jumped 17 percent yesterday.

VZN - Pays a 4.5% dividend. I've muddled along with this stock but think it's a long-term gainer. Just a hunch.

SSW - I've lost my shirt on this ocean freighter company, with the stock down 40 percent since I bought it. But come on - it's profitable and it pays an 8.5% dividend. I've been buying it the whole way down until I reached a limit on how much I'll put into any stock. If it comes back, it'll produce some big gains and I don't see why it's down so much. I kind of want to buy more.