ABB LTD. ADRs $17 (New York symbol ABB; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $39.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is a Swiss-based maker of transformers, transmission switches and other electricity-infrastructure equipment. In the three months ended June 30, 2009, ABB earned $728 million, or $0.29 per ADR. (Each American Depositary Receipt represents one ABB common share.) This figure included $120 million in restructuring costs. ABB aims to save a total of $2 billion a year by the end of 2010 by cutting an unspecified number of jobs, closing plants and buying more raw materials from low-cost countries. In the year-earlier quarter, ABB earned $1.1 billion, or $0.43 per ADR. Revenue fell 12.3%, to $7.9 billion from $9 billion. ABB holds cash of $8.1 billion, or roughly $3.55 per ADR. Its $2.1-billion long-term debt is just 5% of its market cap. That gives it plenty of flexibility to buy other related companies. In light of the recession, ABB could find some bargains. It’s particularly interested in China, where spreading industrialization has lifted demand for its products. The company should earn $1.14 per ADR in 2009, and the stock trades at 14.9 times that estimate. The $0.44 dividend yields 2.6%. ABB is a buy.