Portfolio Highlight: Consumer (Part 2)

JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU)

PE Ratio: 15.05

52 Week Low/High: 7.61 - 20.25

JetBlue Airways is an air transportation service operating across the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Founded by former Southwest Airlines employees in 1999, JetBlue started off by following Southwest's approach of offering low-cost travel, but sought to distinguish itself by its amenities, such as in-flight entertainment, TV at every seat, and Sirius satellite radio.

During 2013 and 2014, JetBlue was one of the airline industry's laggars in terms of financial performance, missing its return on invested capital targets in both years. In addition to this, it had one of the lowest profit margins in its respective industry in 2014. However in this first quarter of 2015, JetBlue has been making a strong comeback, with healthy financial prospects proceeding into rest of the year. Due to increasing demand for its services and its new profit strategies, JetBlue has been able to drive big profit gains, with help from higher revenue per unit sold and recent drops in oil prices. While JetBlue falled below expectation in years before, this just provides an opportunity for the company to catch up within the year with a strong recovery.

Foot Locker Inc. (FL)

PE Ratio: 16.80

52 Week Low/High: 45.01 - 63.66

Foot Locker is a global retailer of athletic sportswear, most notably shoes and apparel. With headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, the company operates various chains of athlletic footwear retail stores, including "Kids Foot Locker", "Lady Foot Locker", and other athletic-based divisions including Champs Sports, Sidestep, and Runner's Point.

Although faced with competition from companies with similar business models, Foot Locker's execution of its business strategies has helped it outpace other retailers. Taking advantage of the recent increasing demand for sports apparel, Foot Locker has started shifting its merchandise to fit the changing need of consumers, particularly in regards to its female customer demographic. This strategy has proven to have worked for the retailer, with shares last quarter far outperforming analyst predictions with net income growth of the company reaching marks two-times greater than the industry average. At a low price relative to the rest of the market, Foot Locker stands as a promising stock to invest in.

Toyota Motors Corp. (TM)

PE Ratio: 12.90

52 Week Low/High: 106.35 - 145.80

Toyota Motors is a Japanese automotive manufacturer founded in 1937 with headquarters in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. It is one of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world, and one of Japan's largest companies by market capitalization. Toyota is a major exporter of automobiles around the world, with notable models such as Land Cruiser, Camry, Prius, as well as associated automotive divisions such Lexus and Scion.

Honda Motors Corp., Ltd. (HMC)

PE Ratio: 12.60

52 Week Low/High: 28.61 - 36.02

Honda Motors is a Japanese manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment founded in 1964 with headequarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda is one of the world's largest automotive manufacturers, as well as the first Japanese automaker to be a net exporter from the United States. Notable brand models produced by Honda include Accord, Civic, Fit, and Odyssey.

With the revival of the automotive industry, both Toyota and Honda have been able to regain friction within the market. But what's more interesting than the sector both these companies belong to, is the area where they are: Japan. Last year, due to the Bank of Japan's unconventional monetary policies paired with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's fiscal stimulus plan, new life was brought to the Japanese economy, with an impressive 31% return on the Nikkei 225 Index. Into this next fiscal year, investors are hoping that a similar performance will occur, with hopes that Bank of Japan will continue with its ultra-loose monetary policy.

With prospects high in Japan for investors, automotive manufacurers on the rise, in addition to an opportunity to decrease portfolio volatility by investing in the global market, Toyota Motors and Honda Motors stand out as two attractive stock picks.