i fell in love with a breakfast at bob evans farms. when i went back home, i visited the huge fabulous new york manhattan new york public library and devoured everything i could about bob evans farms. they had magazines with articles, microfiche of s.e.c. followings. okay, they were four months old, but take it when you get get it. it allowed me to compare bobe with other restaurants in the industry. i knew i had a good one. i bought 20 shares. the stock went up immediately on a good quarter and the stock split. and i figured out the good component of investing, know what you own. like it, even. what did i know about growing oranges? who knew about women's fashion? but a good plate of scrambled eggs and sausages served in an attractive setting, a company that i found had a long tradition of good service and nice growth plans to expand in the midwest? that was for me. next up, sts technologies, old standard press steel. why sps? because a buddy of mine from high school catching up can me told me, listen, jim, if you're in the gym, they

a friend from home with a lucky call available with jobs available, a hearty breakfast at bob evans farms, there has to be a more methodical way, don't you think? and then it hit me. look around at work. at the time i was covering mergers and acquisitions. profiling some deals that were on, it seemed that every other deal was in the oil patch. one after another, small to mid sized oil companies were waiting to be acquired. i went back to the public library, took out some edition of value lines and checked out the pages devoted to oil companies. i then referenced them with other research, magazine articles to find out which ones would be acquired without problems, either because they were public without a family owning them or because they seemed to fit the same parameters that other deals i was reading about. i set on a deal called natomis. it was an oil company that was a real gusher in indonesia. i didn't have to wait long until mcgee bought them. i almost doubled my money. if i want to buy takeovers, buy companies that would do well on their own but was undermanaged. which was the cons

bob evans, the famous restaurant, breadcrumbs, lemonade mix, o hormel. you know about reynolds wrap. royal oak, chicken of the sea, these companies are all involved in making private label products. gerri: one other question, nutrition labels. you have to compare them when you're looking at the two in the grocery store. >> general you won't see big differences but on occasion you do. we looked at sausages. they are out there. we found out wal-mart's great value brand had 88% more sodium, so you better read the label carefully. gerri: that is good advice. todd, thanks. appreciate you coming on. as you go, i want to show what we heard on the street today on this very topic. >> thanks. >> i guess brand name because you know what you're getting. yoyou're used to it. >> if it is not that important, i will go with the generic. >> people gravitate toward that product. if you mash them together, you will notice that they have the same ingredient, some more so. find the one that is for you. gerri: he has got it. name brands don't mean a lot, so who do you buy? wi