Picking the right stock can be a matter of chemistry. That's quite literally the case with Michael Judd of Greenwich Consultants. He's enthusiastic about shares of chemical companies.
The Wall Street Journal has ranked him as the No. 1 chemical-company analyst for the second year in a row, and he tops the Journal's overall list of stock pickers this year.
Recommendations:
(See below for his Web Exclusive picks.)
He likes Dow Chemical .
"They have an interesting dynamic that will be occurring later on this year, in that they're joint-venturing some of their chemical businesses and plastics businesses with the Kuwaitis, and they're going to receive an enormous amount of cash for that," Judd told CNBC. "We think they will choose to reinvest that in acquisitions and perhaps some share buybacks."
He particularly likes companies that produce agricultural chemicals, like Monsanto.
"You've seen the prices for grains, and fertilizer stocks have certainly responded," he said. "There's a demand on the part of the farmers to maximize yield."
Web Extras for CNBC.com Readers:
More chemical companies on his list include Agrium, CF Industries Holdings, Compass Minerals, Mosaic, and Potash.