I am a long-time investor and analyst in media stocks of all shapes and sizes. I like media stocks becuase the business is fairly simple, free cash flow capabilities are excellent, and US companies have an unrivavled global competitive position. Presently, Northlake’s model portfolio contains two media stocks, Central European Media Enterprises and NTL, Inc. Those stocks have performed well in the last 18 months but most media stocks have not.

One of my key Wall Street contacts in the media sector is Lauren Fine, newspaper and ad agency analyst at Merrill Lynch. Lauren had a peice out last week from which I excerpted the following: