Big Moat Stocks (formerly Rule 1 Numbers)

From time to time, I’ll take a look at potential Big Moat candidates based on the research I’ve been doing. The first company I’ll be looking at is Fastenal because I worked for a a company in the same industry as Fastenal for 4 years and we were constantly being compared to the way Fastenal was operating. Here’s a brief summary on Fastenal:

Fastenal Company sells industrial and construction supplies in a wholesale and retail fashion. The Company’s offerings are grouped into 10 product lines: tools, cutting tools, hydraulic and pneumatic products, material handling products, janitorial supplies, electrical supplies, welding supplies, safety supplies and raw materials (metals). Fastenal conducts its business in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Singapore and the Netherlands under various trademarks and service marks, including Fastenal, EquipRite, CleanChoice, PowerPhase and FastArc. As of December 31, 2005, the Company had 1,755 store sites located in 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, China and the Netherlands. As of December 31, 2005, the Company operated 12 distribution centers in North America from which the Company distributes products to its store sites.

In the upcoming posts I’ll take a look at the the 4 M’s and the Big 5 Numbers and see whether Fastenal is truly a Big Moat Candidate.