Clearing some bits off the table

I took the liberty to clear some positions off the table today. Some long term positions I have held in the portfolio have come around (Southern Copper and ING), while others I'm just looking to exit due to weakness (Intevac). DeVry has been good to me, and it's time to exit again netting a 25% gain for the short term. I took some positions off the table because the employment indicators haven't come around strong enough relative to what the market has been doing. The S&P 500 is up 50% since March.

Yes, employment is usually a lagging indicator when the economy turns around, but there are unsettling factors in foreclosure rates. Existing home sales showed a nice jump in a report issued last week, but the people buying are the ones in stable shape (ie, they have jobs). Foreclosures are still happening. Tying this into the S&P run, I thought it be wise to lock in some gains today. Now on to the details:

DeVry (DV): sold entire position. The cat is out of the bag, everyone knows about the for-profit educational play. No advantage here. Netted 25% gain on this one. Company is trading in the midpoint of my valuation range.

Intevac (IVAC): sold entire position. Company has been losing money for a few quarters now. This wasn't the case when I picked up the company in 2008, and the sales cycle for their lean etch system is too long for my liking. Long sales lead times in a tough environment like this one is not good. Barely made any money on this investment.

ING (ING): sold entire position. The company's tier 1 capital ratio was never really in big hurt compared to other big banks, and picked them up during the dog days of the financial crisis. Netted 27% gain on this investment. Time to take a break and look for other investment opportunities.

Southern Copper (PCU): Sold only a portion of my position while still retaining a good share. The copper play isn't over in my opinion. China/India still need to build out their infrastructure, and stimulus spending by China is helping lift copper prices. This is a long term investment, although I do see a slight pull back in copper over the short run as the Baltic Dry Index which measures shipping activity for commodities is starting to soften a bit.

Just trying to keep hanging in there, investing 10 grand where it counts.

ISM Employment Index

The market has made a nice run of late on the strength second quarterly earnings from a number of companies. Economic numbers from GDP to housing starts are improving. The question everyone is asking is whether we have turned a corner as the markets are leading us to believe.

At 10am EST the ISM Manufacturing Report on Business numbers come out for July. The key number to focus in on is the employment index number. Employment is at the core for any economic picture, and July's numbers will need to show improvement from June's 40.7 score to paint a clearer picture of what is happening in the manufacturing sector.

The manufacturing employment index bottomed out in Februrary, and has improved every month since. This may be a result of companies churning through existing inventories to the point where they have to ramp up production, which means hiring.

The ISM employment numbers represent a good barometer of employment activity because the survey is mainly built on the sentiment of purchasing managers. Who better to know the employment picture than the ones that actually do the hiring. Manufacturing employment is just one measure. I'll be focusing in on the Non-Manufacturing ISM Employment index numbers which come out in a few days to see if there any signs of employment stabilization. Stabilization and recovery are two different animals.