Gene Marcial, Business Week’s stock-picking guru, recommended Exxon Mobil (XOM) on 6/3/08:

a. It has been piling up billions upon billions of dollars each year in eye-popping profits.

b.The real story here is why Exxon Mobil is a must-own for long-term investors.

c. You can’t expect spectacular returns going forward, but predictable profitability is attractive in a volatile market.

d. According to Marcial, the company is still very much undervalued.

e. The stock now trades at just 10 times 2008 estimated earnings of $9 a share. That is about in line with, or less than, its smaller peers.

f. The company’s return on equity went to 34.5% last year from 26% in 2006. And dividend growth is at a yearly clip of 9.1%, with the shares yielding 1.7%. Exxon Mobil bought back about $8 billion of its stock in the first quarter of 2008.

g. oil and gas production accounted for only 7.3% of revenues