Got a couple hundred bucks to spare? What about a couple thousand?

It seems that many investors are jumping into the market after all- but they’re buying beaten down shares of blue chip companies like Citigroup (C) and General Electric (GE).

I had several people over the weekend tell me they were buying shares in those two companies or thinking of buying shares. They had glee in their eyes and were going in “big.”

After all, they told me, Citigroup can’t go any lower, right? (It closed around $1 on Friday.)

And General Electric is General Electric. It won’t go under…will it? It’s been around over a 100 years.

When I mention to these “investors” that Bear Stearns had been in operation since the 1930s and that Lehman Brothers also had a long, storied history and both stocks essentially went to zero- they look at me with blank faces and say:

“But they aren’t Citigroup. The government won’t allow Citigroup to fail.”

Or “GE has all those good industrial businesses.”

Or “GM is America’s car business. The government will keep bailing them out.”

Are These Companies a Good “Gamble”?

Let’s be honest. No one is “investing” in these two companies right now. They’re gambling that the $1 will go to $10 and they’ll make a bundle. Or that GE will surge back up to $30 and they’ll cash in.

But history has shown that once formidable companies that see their stocks crushed, many times don’t see it recover (Lucent, Lucent, Lucent).

Of course, General Electric once traded around $1.5 a share in 1981 and it had a spectacular rise.

Ditto with Citigroup in 1990 when it nearly went bankrupt.

But those were different circumstances and times. Neither was dealing with a credit crisis.

Why “Gamble” When Other Companies Have More Upside?

Citigroup has no earnings right now. General Electric, for now, is earning some money but there is much mystery surrounding the GE Capital side of the business.

Other companies have been beaten down but have little of the danger of Citigroup and General Electric.

I’m thinking of companies like DuPont (DD) and Phillip Morris International (PM). Neither has been caught up in the credit crisis, though both are certainly seeing its effect on their business. Both stocks are down and offer value at these levels. Both pay nice dividends.

Or what about McDonald’s? It’s still selling millions of those Value Meals every day.

But for gamblers, that would be boring. What are your odds of doubling your money owning McDonalds in the next few months?

Citigroup’s $1 share price makes it juicy. It seems “cheap” and the upside seems tremendous.

After all- it can’t go much lower than $1- can it?

[The author of this article owns shares of PM.]

As the rescue plan drags on and on, the rest of the non-financial economy keeps going about its business as best it can with reduced credit and jittery customers.

Mosaic (MOS) one of the larger fertilizer companies, reported first quarter earnings today that were nearly triple the year ago quarter.

Yet the stock was crushed 17% in after hours trading.

Revenues beat analysts’ estimates as well. But investors appear spooked by the company’s decision to curtail phosphate production due to higher than normal inventory levels in the industry.

Potash, however, as I’ve talked about here before, continues to be in tight supply because of the current strike at Potash of Saskatchewan, which has shut down about 30% of that company’s production. From Reuters:

“We’re seeing in the industrial side of the potash business very strong demand … Not new demand, but demand from our competitors customers,” said Prokopanko.

Prices for Potash also continue to remain very, very high.

Take a look at these great numbers:

1. Profits rose to $1.18 billion from $305.5 billion in the first quarter of 2008

2. Revenue doubled to $4.32 billion

These are stunning numbers for any company year-over-year and especially during this challenging economic environment.

But they missed analysts’ estimates by at least 10 cents. Analysts had been even more bullish.

Said the company’s CEO:

“It (earnings) met our expectations, but some analysts had different calculations I suppose. We’re very pleased with the results that we posted,” said Jim Prokopanko, in an interview with Reuters.

The company also continues to see strong demand from farmers for fertilizers- so that part of “the story” hasn’t changed.

But once you “miss” on estimates, the party is over. The other fertilizer companies like Potash (POT) and CF Industries Holdings (CF) were also getting hit hard in the after hours trading.

Cool heads should prevail here. The fundamentals are in-tact and these companies are generating a lot of cash.

If you liked Mosaic at $100, what’s not to like at $55?

Stocks seem to be the only item that people don’t like to buy when they go on sale.

The other fertilizer companies don’t report for several weeks. They could get beaten up further here.

Look for bargains!

I was just on Sharebuilder.com, the on-line broker that allows you to invest any sum you want monthly into any stocks you want.

So you can buy $100 of Stock XYZ a month.

It has an interesting feature that shows you which stocks are the ones most invested in by other customers. I’ve talked about this before but thought I’d check it out once again given the apparent “bursting” of the commodities bubble.

As you can guess from the title of this post- one of the most popular stocks that investors are buying right now is Microsoft (MSFT).

This is rather shocking to me, given its recent price history and given all of the other options available.

But it shouldn’t be shocking to me. Why?

BECAUSE INVESTORS ALWAYS OBSESS OVER THE PAST

What was the best performing stock of the 1990s? Microsoft (or one of them anyway.) Eight years after the stock ceased rising 20% or more a year, investors still “hope” that maybe this will be the year it goes up after all.

Check out its chart. In March 2000, it traded at $53 a share. We now know this was the peak of the NASDAQ bubble. It’s currently trading around $28 and has been in a narrow $23 to $38 trading range for awhile.

It’s never again traded as high as $53. Over the last eight years it has done, well, nothing. One day it WILL trade over $53- but why hold out for that day?

But check out the rest of the Top Ten most requested stocks on Sharebuilder:

1. Apple (AAPL)

2. Microsoft (MSFT)

3. General Electric (GE)

4. Google (GOOG)

5. Wal-Mart (WMT)

6. XM Sirrius (SIRI)

7. ExxonMobil (XOM)

8. Disney (DIS)

9. Cisco (CSCO)

10. Starbucks (SBUX)

If you actually held each of these stocks in your portfolio right now, you wouldn’t be doing too well- even though Apple and Google have outperformed.

Wal-Mart just recently hit a new 8 year high, but the stock has been dead money for most of this decade. Cisco is still in the dot-com bust doldrums (much like Microsoft.) Starbucks has lost more than 50% in the last year. XM Sirrius doesn’t even make any money and is trading at less than 5 years ago.

But Wal-Mart and Cisco were both “hot” in the 1990s.

What Commodities Bubble?

Outside of Exxon, no other commodities related company even makes the top ten list. No Potash or Mosaic (fertilizer companies.) No gold or other mining companies.

Sharebuilder actually publishes the Top 100 companies.

Outside of Exxon, the next commodities-related company appears at #52.

Does that sound frothy to you?

Here’s where other commodities related companies ranked:

#52: Chesapeake Energy (CHK)

#58: Petrobras (PBR)

#59: Potash (POT)

#61: ConocoPhillips (COP)

#91: Yamana Gold (AUY)

#94: Freeport McMoran (FCX)

More investors are buying Bank of America (BAC) which has seen its earnings plunge (it’s at #15) than any of these companies above- many of which have seen their earnings soar.

Why?

Living in the past.

Don’t obsess over the returns of the past. It’s hard to do- but you must.

Microsoft is a great company with incredible earnings. But it’s stock has done nothing for nearly a decade. Don’t live off of the memory of the MSFT of old. Live for now.

In the last two days, two iconic Dow components have reported second quarter earnings.

ExxonMobil (XOM), born from the genius of J.D. Rockefeller over 125 years ago, reported record profit of $11.68 billion. General Motors (GM), born in Detroit 100 years ago when the industrial revolution was picking up steam, lost $15.5 billion.

Both are interconnected- right? Exxon makes the fuel that services GM’s cars.

But Americans are p*ssed at Exxon.

How DARE it make so much money!

Windfall Profits Tax?

Senator Obama yet again brought up the windfall profits tax. The newspapers interviewed people filling up their cars and cursing at the “riches” of Exxon and asking, “do they really need to make all that money?”

Think about that for a minute. Does anyone ask Tiger Woods: “Do you really have to make all that money?”

Or Donald Trump?

Or that hedge fund manager who took home $100 million last year?

Or Cher who is selling her Malibu mansion for $45 million. “Hey Cher, do you really need to make all that money?”

But I digress.

Bleeding Billions of Dollars

Because if Exxon doesn’t make the money- maybe it loses the money. Like GM.

GM lost $15.5 billion.

LOST!

Which company will get government subsidies? Which company will likely be bailed out? (As I have believed for sometime that GM cannot survive.)

And so I ask: Why do Americans despise the company that is kicking a*s and worry about the company that is going under?

Why punish the company that is doing something right at the expense of the company that should be allowed to fail?

Cursing ExxonMobil goes against the American Dream of building the best companies and businesses on the planet. That’s what Exxon is. It makes billions because it is a great company.

GM loses billions because it has lost its way.

This seems obvious, right?

Capitalism rewards those that create and run great companies. I’ve said this before. Exxon should be rewarded, not punished, for its successes.

Instead, GM may end up being “saved” by taxpayers.

Just another day in America.

[In full disclosure, I currently own shares of ExxonMobil and do not own shares of General Motors.]