April tends to be a lovely thing adored by market investors

WHAT LIES AHEAD for your money?

"Over 48 years, April in Wall Street was up an average 1.3 percent. Only December, January, and November were bigger gainers." (1999 Stock Trader's Almanac.)

"Follow money into `big-name' stocks," says financial adviser Laszlo Birinyi. "Over 30 percent of Big Board net buying is in the 30 Dow Jones stocks. This will continue until money exits these stocks. I don't expect that for several months."

"Here are `year 2000' investment opportunities -- companies making things people will load up on at year-end," says adviser Robert Stovall: "Battery manufacturers, such as Gillette Co., and Rayovac Corp Canned goods: Campbell Soup Co. and H. J. Heinz Co Stores selling battery-operated radios, portable stoves, etc.: Home Depot Inc., Lowe's Cos. Inc. and Sears Roebuck and Co."

"Sell mutual funds that underperformed year in and year out," says Tax Hotline. "Even if you pay capital gains taxes now, this strategy is best in the long run. Invest proceeds in consistently better-performing funds."

LOCAL BEAR TRACKS: "These days a good analyst (and there aren't many) can only justify many stock prices by a new factor -- `greater fools' who think value is whatever price the next guy will pay." (Rex Rehfeld, vice president of investments, Gruntal & Co., Baltimore.)

BULL RUN: "Our main reason for remaining bullish is accommodative Fed policy. The Fed will hold steady for the foreseeable future." (Rabbitt's Market Strategy, in this week's Barron's.)

Pub Date: 3/31/99