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Topic: Growth Stocks

WAL-MART STORES INC. – New York symbol WMT

WAL-MART STORES INC. $57 (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio: Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 3.4 billion; Market cap: $193.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart.com) fell 8% recently after it admitted that it is investigating allegations that executives of its 69%-owned Mexican subsidiary paid bribes to local officials in 2005 to speed up the construction of new stores.

U.S. companies are prohibited from bribing foreign officials under the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Wal-Mart is fully cooperating with American and Mexican authorities. This should limit any possible fines it may have to pay. The company has also strengthened its internal accounting controls to make sure all of its overseas businesses comply with the anti-bribery law.

The stock could stagnate, or fall further, if the investigation uncovers more bad news. However, it’s unlikely that this scandal will permanently harm Wal-Mart’s reputation or its sales growth.

Wal-Mart is still a buy.

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