My mother called last week, worried that an impending bankruptcy of a certain airline might jeopardize our holiday visit. My mother, you see, is going through Cora withdrawal. She's nervous, shaky, anxious, and ready for her granddaughter fix.

I assured my mother we would be there, even if we had to walk. Certain we would show for this holiday season, she began to worry about next year's visits.

"What if all the airlines go out of business?" Not content with one mode of transportation, she added, "And what about trains? They're in trouble, too. How will you ever get here if there's no planes or trains?"

That question was just too tempting. I pondered whether I should maintain my reputation as the daughter who begs to be sent to her room, or dust off my veneer of kindness for this prelude to our visit. I hoped for the latter, but my mouth managed to perform the usual smart-aleck response.

"I don't know mom. I think hitchhiking is illegal in just about every state. I guess we'll just move in with you."

That comment gave us both the shivers, and it helped end the conversation rather quickly. After that phone call, I thought about telephones and transportation. Then I thought about food, clothing, the electric bill, teeny-weeny computer chips, safety, and finances. After all these thoughts my head was spinning, so I reached for the aspirin and wondered how I could relax and entertain myself.

Within those thoughts and actions, I covered just about every sector in the market. The only thing missing was my ticket to another planet. It occurred to me I've been rather slack with studies of various and sundry industries lately. Not so long ago, I was quite certain about which stocks to pick and I was comfortable with my knowledge on different sectors. But many things have changed within the past two years, and each industry now has new things to offer.

My New Year's resolution is to take my head out of the sand and explore what's available in the market today. In fact, we'll start this week with a little planning and organizing. I want to know where to focus, and I need some fodder for holiday discussion topics. We'll rely on most of BUYandHOLD's sector divisions, which are:

Consumer Goods: This sector covers everything we use on a daily basis, or anything we use and replace every few years. Clothing, appliances, and other items we need or simply can't live without are included in this category.

Energy and Utilities: This sector seems pretty self-explanatory, but there's more involved than just turning on a switch. There are products that supply the power, like oil and coal, and then there's leftovers - or waste - produced from using these products. All are covered under this category.

Finance: This sector includes commercial, savings and investment banks, brokerage firms, asset management firms and venture capital firms.

Food and Beverage: Yes, Virginia, food has a stake in the market, too. Denver, Co was founded on sugar beets, and the price of oranges depends on frost in Florida. This sector includes other surprises, like chemicals and packaging.

Industrial: This sector includes machinery, but it also includes testing and research, patents and inventions. Cora's eyes lit up with the possibilities in this category.

Medical/Healthcare: This sector includes medicine, health care, various studies and research, testing, biotech, etc., etc. This is a huge sector, and hopefully we can cover most of the major sections of this category in future weeks.

Recreation/Leisure: This is my favorite sector for participation, but I've never researched it thoroughly for investments. Who knows what profits lurk in toys, hotels, and hot tubs?

Services: This category covers services offered to help make our lives easier - whether we're aware of them or not. Various breakdowns include information, administration, rentals, leasing, and security.

Technology and Internet: Most of us know about this sector. At least, most of us think we do?but changes happen rapidly in this industry, so a little brush-up won't hurt us.

Telecommunications: If you can talk, you've used something in this sector. Outside of phones, intercoms, beepers, and other communication devices, there's also the ways and means of sending these communications from one place to another.

Transportation: Speaking of sending things from one place to another, we still have planes, trains, and automobiles. My gut feeling is this industry will go through some major changes over the next few years, so I'm anxious to discover more about this industry.

Each sector has its own quirks, trends, failures, and successes. As we cover each one, I'll add my findings and opinions, including those of my family, friends, and some industry professionals.

In the meantime, you can print this list and carry it with you on your own holiday visits. Engage your family and friends in a discussion about change, and how - sometimes - these changes can often spell hope.

Cora and I hope you'll have a wonderful celebration of this holiday season.

See you next week,
Linda Goin