The end is nigh! The end of 2006, that is. Time for gurus from Wall Street to Mumbai to pick their 10 best stocks for 2007. Now it’s time for my anti-end-of-the-year piece. Call it “10 stock picks for investors who don’t care about the calendar.” The year-end stock-pick piece is a time-honored way to sell papers. Or, these days, to generate Internet clicks. But the project isn’t totally self-interested. An investor who can get the trends right before the year starts and then pick the right stocks to ride stands to make a handsome profit in the 12 months ahead.

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Every now and then my columns are rewarded with feedback so virulent I’m compelled to share some of the more colorful comments. My recent column on Tejon Ranch Co.’s right to develop its land in any environmentally sound way it sees fit resulted in a number of such responses. A favorite came from a San Fernando Valley resident who declared me “clueless, short-sighted and dangerous,” and noted that I apparently “enjoy living in the unwashed crotch of the southern San Joaquin Valley.

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It’s the gift that keeps on giving — hopefully. Bakersfield Memorial Hospital announced Monday that it has received one of its first large gifts in its capital campaign to help build the hospital’s new tower. Tejon Ranch Co., the large working ranch on Interstate 5, donated $100,000 in company stock. With the market the way it is, the hospital felt comfortable accepting the stock, said Caryl Schweitzer, executive director of the hospital’s foundation.

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A coalition of California’s leading environmentalists has come up with an ambitious plan to turn sprawling Tejon Ranch into a vast natural preserve and is ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. This is merely a minor detail to the environmentalists, who say Tejon Ranch Co. must develop, or not develop, the land according to their plan or it’s off to court they’ll go.

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