Here’s our Pick of the Month - WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $19.91 (New York symbol WYN; SI Rating: Extra risk) (973-753-6000; www.wyndhamworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 177.0 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion) is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies. Wyndham Hotel Group has almost 6,540 franchised hotels and almost 550,600 hotel rooms worldwide. Wyndham’s RCI Global Vacation Network has 3.6 million members who have exchange access to over 67,000 vacation properties located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of approximately 145 vacation ownership resorts serving over 800,000 owners in North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. The company keeps reporting increased revenues and earnings, despite higher fuel prices and lower consumer confidence in the wake of the housing market slowdown. In the three months ended December 31, 2007, revenues rose 6.4%, to $1.03 billion from $970 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 13%, to $104 million from $92 million. Earnings per share rose 22.9%, to $0.59 from $0.48, on 7.8%fewer shares outstanding. Wyndham has plans to add 930 hotels and over 105,000 rooms over the next few years. This includes further expansion in China through its Super 8, Howard Johnson and Days Inn chains. Wyndham’s major customer base is the babyboomer generation, which has both the money and the inclination to use timeshares or hotels. The company’s diverse exposure to the hospitality industry also gives it more consistent cash flow than most hotel management companies. These factors could make Wyndham an attractive acquisition candidate. That’s not reason enough to buy the stock, but it adds to its appeal. Wyndham Worldwide is a buy.