Based on the earnings forecast of offshore drillers like Transocean (RIG), Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO) and Noble (NE), the offshore oil drilling boom is likely to continue for years to come. In fact Transocean earned over $1 billion in just the first quarter of this year. We picked up Diamond Offshore Drilling for the SINLetter model portfolio in January 2007 and have been rewarded with a gain of over 70% over 16 months despite the recent pullback in the stock. Diamond Offshore was a proxy investment for rising oil prices and it appears that choppers could be a proxy for the offshore drilling boom based on the number of large offshore oil finds in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Brazil over the last few years.
Bell helicopter, which is a subsidiary of aerospace giant Textron (TXT). Textron was ranked number one in the Aerospace & Defense category of Fortune magazine’s list of America’s Most Admired Companies of 2008. As an added bonus, investing in Textron also gives you exposure to the red hot light jet segment as the company also makes the Cessna line of jets.
