Q. I am confused about my Yahoo Inc. shares. What do you think the possibilities are? — P.V., via the Internet

A. Despite its long-publicised troubles, this Internet giant with operations in more than 30 countries has lately had some kick in its get-along.

Disciplined cost-cutting by CEO Carol Bartz helped it triple its earnings to $186 million in the third quarter. Revenues were down 12 percent, but the company has been seeing some improvement in advertising sales.

Another positive: Four large advertising firms pledged their support for its planned search and advertising partnership with Microsoft Corp. that is currently under review by antitrust regulators.

The controversial 10-year deal would have Microsoft's new Bing search engine power queries on Yahoo's sites. Though Yahoo would get no upfront payment, it would receive 88 percent of the revenue from advertisements generated from those sites.

On the upswing due to that Microsoft potential, Yahoo (YHOO) shares are up 45 percent this year following last year's 48 percent decline. It has plenty of cash for stock buybacks, acquisitions and new technologies or content.

Despite gaining viewers, Yahoo has lost much of its innovative lustre in recent years. So it launched a $100 million, 10-country marketing campaign this fall that will run through 2010. It promotes the company's brand and its viability as competition for its more profitable Internet rival Google Inc. in display advertising.

Consensus rating on Yahoo shares is between "buy" and "hold," according to Thomson Financial, consisting of seven "strong buys," eight "buys," 18 "holds" and two "sells."

Bartz joined Yahoo in January following co-founder Jerry Yang's unsuccessful attempt to turn the company around. He remains with the company for his technology expertise.

Former General Electric Co. executive Andrew Siegel was recently hired as new head of mergers and acquisitions to evaluate which businesses to keep and which to sell. The firm has indicated it doesn't plan to sell its 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan or its 40 percent stake in China's Alibaba Group, the parent of Alibaba.com, because it sees value and long-growth in those holdings.

Earnings are expected to decline 22 percent this year compared with the two percent decline expected for the Internet information providers industry. Next year's forecast of a 14 percent gain compares to 12 percent expected industry-wide. The five-year annualised growth rate is projected to be 16 percent versus the 12 percent forecast for its peers.

Q. I would like your view on my holdings in Fidelity Stock Selector Fund. I want a conservative fund. — B.D., via the Internet

A. If you don't want a shock to your system, this fund is for you.

With a large portfolio of more than 200 stocks, it has some correlation to performance of the Standard & Poor's 500. It doesn't make big sector bets or hold a lot of cash, a philosophy much like an index fund.

However, it also avoids stocks that don't have strong growth prospects and recently moved into some cyclical stocks.

The $600 million Fidelity Stock Selector Fund (FDSSX) is up 15 percent over the past 12 months and had a three-year annualised decline of six percent. Both results ranked in the lowest one-fifth of large growth funds.

"This basically is a 'closet' index fund with a slight overweight in technology and underweight in utilities," said Jack Bowers, editor of the independent Fidelity Monitor newsletter (www.fidelitymonitor.com) in Rocklin, California. "It has recouped its fees and delivered a little bit on top of that over the last five years."

When James Catudal became portfolio manager in October 2001, he dropped the fund's computerised stock-picking models and emphasised a more traditional stock-picking approach. Catudal, with more than $1 million of his own money in the fund, tends to trade frequently, and portfolio turnover can be high. He also runs Fidelity Adviser Growth & Income Fund and Fidelity Growth & Income Fund in similar fashion.

While Stock Selector turned in strong results in 2005 and 2007, investors might have gotten similar results with a low-cost index fund or exchange-traded funds.

"It is kind of a 'yawner' of a fund, and I don't have it in any of my model portfolios right now," said Bowers. "But I have a buy rating on it for people who want to stay close to the S&P but still have an opportunity to outperform."

Financial services, health care, technology hardware and consumer services are its largest concentrations. Top holdings were recently ExxonMobil, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Applied Materials, Bank of America, Wal-Mart Stores, Apple, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard.

This "no-load" (no sales charge) fund requires a $2,500 minimum initial investment. Its annual expense ratio is 0.93 percent.

Andrew Leckey answers questions only through the column. Address inquiries to Andrew Leckey, 555 N. Central Ave., Suite 302, Phoenix, AZ 85004-1248, or by e-mail at andrewinv@aol.com