tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11693244509244456652011-11-22T17:46:26.562-06:00DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.comBlogger1041100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-58492080610031740922011-11-11T09:27:00.002-06:002011-11-11T09:29:30.445-06:00

Disney's quarterly earnings just reaffirmed my decision to purchase last August when the market was bashing this company. 7% revenue gain from a year ago. Full story:http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-disney-posts-higher-revenue-shares-gain-20111110,0,6869494.story Still happy to know that I can still pick 'em in this environment.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-29037291037863079922011-09-26T20:19:00.010-05:002011-09-26T20:50:15.376-05:00

A couple of interesting things I came across today. The first one comes from UBS which paints a picture that equities are still not cheap. The endless stream of negative news from the media just continues to pile on. There just doesn't seem to be anything positive or any glimmer of light to look forward to, from the European debt crisis, to the sluggish job outlook here in the US. The

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-1314541298943342222011-08-12T23:09:00.005-05:002011-08-12T23:11:36.303-05:00

19.2% Total Return (since inception - Jan.1st.2008)

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-52040257751745253252011-08-10T15:51:00.003-05:002011-08-10T16:06:09.924-05:00

Per my last few posts, it's buying season and some good companies are on sale. Disney (DIS) hasn't shown up on my radar simply because Return on Assets isn't stellar, but not too bad either. The company comes out today with a great 3rd quarter and the market rewards them with a 9% drop in stock price. Every business segment reported positive operating income growth compared to a year ago

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-26619488971361684112011-08-09T22:43:00.003-05:002011-08-09T22:47:19.490-05:00

Found an old article from last November where Jason Notte from the thestreet.com interviews Tim Horton's Chief Operations Officer for US and International, David Clanachan. It's a pretty good read, and gives a small snippet into his mindset about continued expansion into the US market. More to come on this, Starbucks (SBUX), and Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) in future posts.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-18706017462178387792011-08-08T21:29:00.009-05:002011-08-08T22:35:16.942-05:00

Well I can honestly I didn't see this one coming with the markets diving today. Dow was down 5.5%, and the NASDAQ and S&P500 falling 6.6% and 6.9% respectively. After news broke of the credit downgrade of the US last Friday, I started thinking about Monday, my positions, and my job. With the debt ceiling debate and the ever growing problems in Europe with Italy and Spain, I didn't think it

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-29313203382461677742011-07-07T10:18:00.001-05:002011-07-07T10:19:31.581-05:00

Let's hope 2nd quarter proves correct. http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20110706&id=13864916 I knew I could always count on you :)

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-30478007123429684212011-04-24T16:06:00.004-05:002011-04-24T16:10:34.192-05:00

Since my last post on the three companies I have been prowling around, The Motley Fool's Jordan DiPietro has also locked in on Tim Horton's, especially given it's favorable valuation. It's a good high level article on Tim Horton's. I'm still digging deeper into the company.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-42093472851954869102011-04-03T17:03:00.011-05:002011-04-03T18:36:59.992-05:00

Unemployment rate reported another nice drop to 8.8% last Friday. I've been monitoring overall economic conditions from oil prices, consumer confidence, housing, and the unemployment rate. Still weary about rising oil prices, but a number of stocks fell into my screen today. My usual screen turned up a lot more stocks than usual this time around, approximately 40 in total. The criteria for

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-89357057506551834442011-02-24T08:35:00.013-06:002011-02-24T09:03:15.291-06:00

The past three years have been quite the ride given the magnitude of the problems that occurred in our financial system. I had some time to look back and pulled out 9 lessons I’ve learned along the way. It’d be great if I had 10, but that 10th lesson I came up with was lame. So it’s 9 for now. The Ten Grand Chicago portfolio’s total after-tax gain from 2008 through 2010 came in at 16.46% (

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-69386407195319668812011-02-11T10:51:00.003-06:002011-02-11T11:22:59.501-06:00

Nokia (NOK) made news by joining forces with Microsoft in a big move to try to right their straggling ship. This company once used to dominate, but has seen Apple and Android's platform cut into their market. This move is reminiscent of Motorola's move to Google's Android platform a while back, in giving up on trying to go it alone and working with people that know how to market and build

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-72642758683467503702011-02-01T22:11:00.006-06:002011-02-01T22:55:29.271-06:00

Brent Crude crossed $100/barrel yesterday on concerns of the political unrest in Egypt disrupting oil supplies. A couple of thoughts crossed my mind, specifically what effects rising oil prices have on businesses, especially if oil prices remain high. The answer is rather obvious, but as an aggregate how does the S&P500 respond? I decided to chart the relationship of Brent Crude against

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-89157083314230427892011-01-30T15:29:00.012-06:002011-01-30T15:52:29.772-06:00

As I closed out 2010 I was somewhat satisfied with my portfolio performance. My real day job pretty much consumed all of my time in 2010, which reduced my time dramatically for investment research this past year. Nonetheless, I managed to pull up the value by 7.19% this past year. After tax gains racked up 16.45% gain since I started the portfolio 3 years ago. Nothing to go shouting on the

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-47844994445660941362011-01-24T22:30:00.004-06:002011-01-29T21:22:50.387-06:00

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-56323373471621862722010-11-24T22:59:00.003-06:002010-11-24T23:06:58.115-06:00

It's been a while since I last wrote, but the developing issues in Europe on top of the recent skirmish in the Korean peninsula isn't sitting well, even as the portfolio of stocks I manage has done well this year. Is it just me, but does anyone really know how connected the US markets are to problems in Ireland, Greece, and the festering issues in Spain? I don't, and I'm sure no one else can

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-40247232339214021092010-10-30T09:39:00.004-05:002010-11-02T12:34:15.321-05:00

Performance through the 3rd quarter.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-22509481623745720942010-10-28T22:21:00.003-05:002010-10-28T22:23:36.689-05:00

Performance through Q2 2010. Catching up on the portfolio updates.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-21177049559525235772010-09-25T14:06:00.001-05:002010-09-25T14:07:14.544-05:00

Nice to finally see America Movil (AMX) move. Flash Player 9 or higher is required to view the chartClick here to download Flash Player nowif (typeof(embedWikichart) != "undefined") {embedWikichart("http://charts.wikinvest.com/WikiChartMini.swf","wikichartContainer_F5A78B6A-B7F7-4F00-72B7-4A49BD8E0BDB","570","365",{"endDate":"25-09-2010","ticker":"AMX","showAnnotations":"true","liveQuote":"

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-59596094333319877792010-09-07T21:14:00.004-05:002010-09-08T08:57:54.438-05:00

It's been quite some time since I've written and analyzed investments. Still staying on top of economic developments, but I thought I'd drop in on an unrelated topic to offer up gratitude for the Mayor of Chicago. Mayor Daley announced at a press conference that he will no not be running for re-election after his current term expires. This comes as quite a shock as he has remained a permanent

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-24736235810024552662010-07-20T11:48:00.002-05:002010-07-20T11:55:33.185-05:00

The company recently reported Q2 earnings sporting a 51% increase in sales, but suffering a 60% drop in net income as the company continues its expansion efforts. SG&A continues to climb, but as of this morning the stock is hovering in the $1.80's that I decided to get back into this company again. I had last exited this company with a 13% gain on the lack of clarity in economic conditions.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-4673622562472090832010-07-01T21:51:00.003-05:002010-07-01T22:19:11.899-05:00

A few days ago I let go of a few positions as there is no clarity in the economy with respect to direction. Several pundits if you would like to call them that have opinions ranging from double dip recession to slow and sluggish growth. The one observable trend that I can muster from recent developments in Europe, sluggish domestic home sales in the US, and the recent anemic report on private

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-52725707073134553592010-05-23T18:53:00.006-05:002010-05-23T19:42:27.354-05:00

As the market continued to raise doubts regarding the EU's bailout program of Greece the past few weeks, on Friday US Labor Department reported jobless claims rising 25,000 to 471,000. This was the first rise in the past 5 weeks and reinforced that the US recovery would be slow. This weakness has brought down two companies that I have been following for some time. The first company is America

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-81634302472767737282010-04-30T21:14:00.005-05:002010-04-30T21:53:15.017-05:00

I'm not one to jump on the fear mongering wagon, but I am cautious when their is lack of information. Late last year I had informed one of my friends to be cautious as Greece's debt problems came to light. He simply shrugged it off and told me it would be "contained". I had limited information, so I wasn't going to do some knee jerk reaction and invest more or sell off. Well... more

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-28103134670071198012010-04-10T21:24:00.004-05:002010-04-18T07:47:57.498-05:00

The first quarter of 2010 closed out a few weeks ago and things are looking steady for the portfolio. Corporate earnings are improving on a year over year basis, but unemployment is still extremely high. Commercial loans continue to sour, and sovereign debt risk in Greece still looks unclear as the EU/IMF workout an aid package of 45B euros. The big shoe to drop this past week has been the

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-21447294067842071682010-03-29T20:24:00.002-05:002010-03-29T20:32:13.534-05:00

An article posted by AP today reports Timothy Geithner that commercial real estate loans will continue to be a problem, however a problem that can be "managed". Last June while covering Herman Miller I had spoke briefly about the brewing problems of the commercial real estate sector and its impact on Herman Miller. Since then the market has trekked its way upwards while this problem seems to

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-5943094437842665572010-03-20T14:19:00.005-05:002010-03-20T14:33:37.962-05:00

Harley Davidson has been on a roll the past few weeks on news about a possible leveraged buyout from private equity firm KKR. Harley Davidson has been a holding of the Ten Grand Chicago portfolio since July/2008. I've ridden this thing through the depths of the economic crisis to see it claw its way back up on the company's restructuring and financing moves. The company's financing arm hasn't

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-84925297724408408332010-02-07T18:56:00.004-06:002010-02-08T08:22:13.862-06:00

News about mortgage rules in Canada are surfacing again. With the average price of a home reaching $337K in December 2009 (a 19% increase from the same period a year ago), the big banks urged the Canadian government to tighten lending requirements by shortening amortization rates to 30 years and bumping up the minimum down payment on a home purchase to 10%. Unfortunately there seems to be

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-58636534584062521322010-01-16T18:47:00.007-06:002010-01-16T19:03:37.049-06:00

Where has investing 10 grand taken me? Two years into the experiment and we're yielding a total gain of 11.69%. Annualized growth rate of 5.68% I'm not delighted with this performance, but up against the S&P500 which is sporting a -24.06% loss over the same two year time period and investing through one of the worst recessions of our life time... yeah, I'll take what I can get. Looking to

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-21616500007886924202010-01-12T18:48:00.004-06:002010-01-12T18:54:26.533-06:00

China's central bank today released news that it would raise bank reserve requirements in order to cool off the asset bubbles within the country. The immediate impact was a hit on commodity based currencies and stocks. Of particular interest is the once member of the Ten Grand Chicago porfolio, Southern Copper (PCU) which dropped 4% on the news. The one thing I've learned over the past few

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-12760637582923718262010-01-11T21:15:00.006-06:002010-01-11T22:02:18.394-06:00

Disclosure: I own shares of TKC It has been a long time coming and a rough ride but it looks like Turkecell(TKC) finally has some wind behind its sails as 2010 kicks off. Turkcell has done well on two fronts. Business Week reported a few months ago that the company has weathered a price war against Vodaphone and Avea, and has emerged with a half million new post-paid (monthly billing)

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-16632985942259113952009-12-21T07:36:00.004-06:002009-12-21T08:20:55.250-06:00

While spending some quality holiday time with my family up in Toronto, I came across this article detailing Canadian Finance minister, Jim Flaherty's thoughts about putting measures in place to cool off the Canadian housing market without raising interest rates. The two main measures being considered are to raise the down payment past 5%, and shorten the amortization window below 35 years. The

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-5519702930784649302009-11-20T20:35:00.005-06:002009-11-20T21:02:51.476-06:00

Short post today. This week's economic news has put many people at pause. It's time to close some positions and wait this out. I took a bit off my S&P 500 ETF position (SPY) this week as the index has risen without much of a breather since early March. I also exited Southern Copper (PCU) for a 74% total gain. Although the CEO recently said copper could hit $4/lb, I'm not going to be greedy.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-36809966972968707012009-11-14T17:39:00.015-06:002009-11-14T18:29:24.645-06:00

It was late last September when America Movil (AMX) turned up in one of my screens. I'm still analyzing the company and broader economic picture of Latin America. There are few things to digest which is taking longer than my usual analysis of a US based company: - The mobile wireless industry within Brazil and the surrounding region - America Movil's running capital expenditure and debt loads

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-63110690778575874662009-11-13T17:31:00.003-06:002009-11-13T20:10:19.770-06:00

Borders continues to shed and trim its operations. An article was published this morning stating the chain will close more stores come January. The one thing Borders may not be able to shed so easily will be its debt load. It will be interesting to see how the company is doing with its cash flow when they report November 24th. With current liabilities close to $971m, their current ability to

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-92155673640992419082009-10-16T18:42:00.008-05:002009-10-16T18:56:25.451-05:00

Disclosure: I own put options on Borders Group Last May I briefly spoke about avoiding Borders Group (BGP) due to competitive pressures form Amazon and Barnes and Nobles in addition to their weak liquidity position when balanced against their debts. Things just got more challenging as Walmart just decided to lower some of their popular hardcover books to $10. Amazon followed suit for which

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-90832386742107494332009-10-13T16:44:00.007-05:002009-10-13T17:07:37.395-05:00

The 3rd quarter has just wrapped up, and it’s time to check into the Ten Grand Chicago Portfolio. It’s been tough staying on top of the investments with my real day job acting up and drawing up my free time. A year and three quarters have passed and the Ten Grand Chicago Portfolio stands at a 10.4% total gain. It’s not much, but considering what the markets went through the last year I am

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-5953832063485466952009-09-26T22:26:00.003-05:002009-09-26T22:40:39.321-05:00

America Movil (AMX) turned up in one my screens today. Here are some quick stats: - P/E 14.1, a little on the high side compared to my other communication service holdings TurkCell (TKC), and Magyar Telecom (MTA). - Return on Assets at 17%. Not bad, but I usually screen for ROA exceeding 20%. - 8.6B in total debt, with 1.1B cash on hand. Not pleasing. My only exposure to Latin America

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-10491429510702366502009-08-24T22:45:00.003-05:002009-08-24T23:05:35.680-05:00

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

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-36533474742272453472009-08-03T08:55:00.008-05:002009-08-03T09:13:20.839-05:00

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

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-31257412799747815722009-07-31T22:17:00.006-05:002009-07-31T22:41:39.076-05:00

I strolled in this morning to find a nice surprise that Turkcell (TKC) will receive frequencies to run 3G in Belarus. The company is the only mobile operator to receive 3G frequencies in the country. This adds to their continued strategy to drive 3G within their own market, and into other developing markets as well. The company stated back in Q1 that the would be launching 3G services in

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-67534441640189609182009-06-19T00:31:00.012-05:002009-06-19T00:58:05.936-05:00

Disclosure: I own shares of MLHR Herman Miller last month announced more details in its plans to reduce costs in its effort to ride out this economic downturn. The details include the closure of one of its manufacturing facilities in Michigan and redistribution of equipment and production capacity to other facilities in the area. The company reports that this move will cost the company a

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-26630798019926012122009-05-29T20:38:00.006-05:002009-05-29T21:27:35.083-05:00

It has been a while since I last posted. My real day job has been pretty busy, but let's jump straight into some stock editorial. Two stocks received some prominent focus this week in the press. OpenTable and Borders. OpenTable kickstarted an IPO on a very high note, trading 59% on the opening day. They run a business of selling reservation systems to restaurants (hardware/software), but

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-90507269726532121772009-04-02T22:56:00.004-05:002009-04-03T06:41:55.628-05:00

I'm not so sure about the news today regarding mark to market changes to help the banks. For those that are not aware of mark-to-market rules, it basically forces a company to revalue its assets appropriately to its true value in the market. Take for example the Pontiac Aztek. GM's vivid creation of beauty. Let's say you owned one of these babies. At some point you probably want to find out

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-18343930678299463922009-03-29T23:34:00.004-05:002009-03-29T23:49:00.316-05:00

Sundays are for sports. During the fall season I get to sit back and watch Sunday Night Football. Today it's North Carolina walking all over Oklahoma. Sundays are starting to get more interesting with big government action. From letting Lehman go to JP Morgan picking up Bear Stearns, all the action seems to happen on Sunday. Now comes Wagoner's ouster, the CEO of GM. I have to admit, this

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-61058055599221754862009-03-18T08:55:00.004-05:002009-03-18T09:03:12.460-05:00

Disclosure: I own shares of Herman Miller. Herman Miller reports Q3 earnings today after the close. The company has been taking a lot of actions recently to handle the downturn in the economy. The office furniture industry has been hurt right along with it. The company recently announced a reduction in hours and pay by 10%. Some workers will be required to take every other Friday off to help

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-27810049464946924172009-03-16T13:26:00.002-05:002009-03-16T13:28:16.485-05:00

Stock is down almost 10%. The fundamentals of this company hasn't changed, other than it's suddenly out of style. I covered this stock early last year, and the valuation is more attractive today.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-9292542528471635542009-02-22T17:04:00.004-06:002009-02-22T17:16:14.570-06:00

Herman Miller (MLHR), a Ten Grand Chicago holding hasn't been performing for quite some time. Based on my analysis at the time, I considered a good value and strategic play. The office furniture market has tanked along with every thing else in the economic crisis, so it's time to look back on my initial analysis and start doing some in depth coverage of what has happened since then, and what

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-60085367065597245262009-02-03T19:29:00.010-06:002009-02-03T20:11:16.963-06:00

"Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner". -- DeNiro in Heat This is pretty much how I view all the for-profit education sector stocks these days. The sudden shift in my perception is due to the increasing popularity of this sector and the high valuations investors have put on these stocks. The

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-54017284687943471302009-01-24T11:55:00.008-06:002009-01-24T19:28:56.668-06:00

When it rains, it pours. Just over a month ago, I had turned my eyes toward the Indian IT outsourcing companies, focusing in on any long term opportunities given the Mumbai terrorist incident. It didn't take long for a major storm to hit with Satyam's CEO admitting to cooking up financial numbers. This was right after his company had made an attempt to acquire two other companies owned by his

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-60103486025684761062009-01-04T12:49:00.009-06:002009-01-04T14:16:01.366-06:00

This past week the Institute of Supply Chain Management (ISM) released their Manufacturing report on business. It wasn't pretty, with a reading of 32.4% (See my previous article on how to interpret these index numbers). Levels that haven't been seen since the mid 70's and early 80's. So why dig into the report? Well, it only takes you 10 minutes to read it, and it reveals other bits of

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-40449569122434809042009-01-03T12:33:00.006-06:002009-01-03T12:49:49.739-06:00

The other day I was watching the NHL Winter Classic on TV in Chicago. As much as I would have liked to attend the game in person, it was pretty cool to see O'Canada sung inside Wrigley. I said to myself, "How cool is that?". As I shed a tear from my eye, I reminisced about my days growing up in Canada, the street hockey games, the great Canadian accent... and yes, the poor retirement vehicles

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-72734075823625129442008-12-18T14:27:00.006-06:002008-12-19T10:22:44.368-06:00

This week Satyam (SAY) took a massive beating from the market dropping more than 50% on Tuesday after it announced it was going to acquire 100% of Maytas Properties, and 51% of Maytas Infra. Why the beat down? Well, some of the folks who are in charge at Satyam, spefically B. Rama Raju (founder) also has family ties within Maytas properties. Hmmm... With all the scrutiny going on these days

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-68137968375718811902008-11-27T21:28:00.005-06:002008-11-27T21:47:52.877-06:00

The last thing the major IT services firms in India needed, was the terrorist attacks that occurred over the past 48 hours in Mumbai. Unlike previous attacks in Bangalore and New Delhi, this one is taking center stage with respect to media coverage. Pretty much what the terrorists are looking for. Companies such as Wipro, InfoSys, Satyam, and Tata Consultancy Services are going to have more

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-30591545344682391822008-11-16T21:21:00.004-06:002008-11-16T21:35:58.008-06:00

It's been extremely hard to focus on stock selection when I wake up to layoff news every morning. At times I worry about my own job let alone other company's prospects. Herman Miller just recently announced another set of cost reductions through voluntary and involuntary work force reductions. After the company managed its operating expenditures through the mountain high commodity costs this

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-68183767628625686692008-10-30T20:50:00.009-05:002008-10-30T21:52:22.330-05:00

I spend some of my days at the office up at the white board designing, explaining, or simplifying problems with some of my fellow team members. It's a great exercise at the office, but when I come home from a long day, the last thing I want to see on TV is the UPS guy do more white boarding. I left the office not to come back to it. I don't care if the guy can draw straight lines and nice

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-50075759088925585712008-10-24T08:43:00.008-05:002008-10-24T08:56:22.355-05:00

DeVry reported a very impressive quarter. Net Income increased 30%. Graduate course enrollment jumped 12%, and 8% with their Ross Medical school segment. Shares are down this morning, and after reporting news that the DOJ wouldn't be filing the lawsuit on submitting false claims to the Department of Education, the downward risk is more acceptable. As layoff news trickles through from the

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-1110857904429193742008-10-17T10:49:00.003-05:002008-10-18T22:11:52.919-05:00

ING Groep NV (ING) is getting hammered this morning due to preliminary 3Q results coming out today. Time to pick up a position here at $10.29 / share.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-47759897193741668832008-10-12T11:10:00.006-05:002008-10-12T11:34:19.279-05:00

Disclosure: I own MLHR Herman Miller (MLHR, a Ten Grand Chicago pick) has been making some news lately with its latest super chair called the, "Embody". Judging from the comments about this new skeleton like vertebrae, there will be die-hard fans shelling out $1,600 for this thing. The company has also struck a deal to sell a few of its older chairs through Costco, with the hopes of extending

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-40603685827705984152008-10-10T22:15:00.007-05:002008-10-10T22:24:26.750-05:00

September 2008 will go down as one of the most gut wrenching rides in stock market history. I remember during the tech boom when many analysts said that the fundamentals were thrown out the window during those lofty times. These days, it seems as if fundamentals have also been thrown out the window, but in the sell side direction. The famous words of economist John Maynard Keynes ring so true

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-82441979506522891302008-10-02T09:00:00.006-05:002008-10-02T10:00:25.272-05:00

It has been one rough ride with weakness across the board. The two most punishing stocks to the portfolio have been Research in Motion (RIMM) and my once high flier Southern Copper (PCU). The company currently demonstarting relative strength is TurkCell (TKC) of all companies. All sights seem to be on the vote for the bailout bill. Less attention is being paid to some of the basic economic

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-27484107715270522022008-09-29T22:30:00.004-05:002008-09-29T22:33:48.232-05:00

These are timely words for this past week. Washington Mutual is no longer an entity, and now Wachovia. The average Joe investor… or any Joe for that matter has to be wondering what other institution is going to crumble. The $700 billion bailout package didn’t pass vote, and the market is taking everyone for a wicked roller coaster ride. Do you still have faith in an economic turnaround?

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-30872791207340623482008-09-17T21:10:00.004-05:002008-09-17T21:48:32.742-05:00

It's only Wednesday and the fire continues in global markets. These are the days when having a playbook of prospective stocks ready to buy comes in handy. When investors see their 401k's and investments take huge dives, their are two extreme actions. "I'll hold on, I don't want to take losses now, and hold on to losers no matter what. Things will turn around" or "What the hell is going on,

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-59292452881005625442008-09-16T11:39:00.000-05:002008-09-16T11:40:02.498-05:00

It's time to add to the Southern Copper (PCU) position. Here is the reasoning: With interest rates likely to fall, risk free CD’s will still attract several investors who are currently existing equity positions out of fear. As of this morning, you can still get 3.75% return on the 6 month, and 4.00% on the 12 month. Balance this against Southern Copper which at this point is running at a

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-25385986363958621662008-09-14T15:41:00.003-05:002008-09-14T15:50:12.257-05:00

Besides gas moving up from $3.81 to $4.40 gallon over the weekend, Barclays is apparently walking away from a deal to purchase portions of Lehman's business, Bank of America is in merger talks with Merrill Lynch, and AIG is planning a restructuring plan to be announced tomorrow. Time to keep an eye out for XLF, possibly another move to add to the position in the coming days if weakness unfolds.

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-52834262530144458572008-09-11T21:14:00.011-05:002008-09-11T21:41:44.395-05:00

The olympics are over China, you can start polluting again. It's time to kick up the manufacturing dragon again and start importing some copper. Copper prices have been diving since their peaks of $4.00/lb from July, to just above $3.10/lb today. This hasn't been kind to shares of Southern Copper (PCU) which has seen their shares weaken over the same time period. What you'll often hear is

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-67157858130743451952008-08-19T08:41:00.005-05:002008-08-19T09:05:34.722-05:00

While I was watching another painful bout of NBC's love affair with beach volleyball during the Olympics, I ran across GM's marketing engine at work. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch NBC's primetime coverage tonight, they are sure to cover it. You can also google "GM Traverse Commercial" to see the banter surrounding this piece. GM is in some serious trouble, and for them to

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-57569433507360688622008-08-11T21:28:00.003-05:002008-08-11T21:34:42.777-05:00

At the beginning of the year there were many media outlets debating on whether the European and BRIC economies were immune from the US malaise. As much as some people wished there was no connection, some bits of information have started to trickle in showing otherwise. Two articles ran in the WSJ in the past week, buried deep inside the paper. One article covered Germany’s fall in new

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-49913432380348946622008-07-12T21:07:00.012-05:002008-12-09T19:49:00.798-06:00

While the market digests Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I decided to do a little shopping yesterday. Nokia has popped up on my value screen over and over again, but with the iPhone 3G launch yesterday, I decided to stay on the side instead and let the marketing engine hype of Apple take over. I still need to play around with some of the N-series phones to see how they stack up. Almost half of

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-218036005625131122008-07-11T09:39:00.007-05:002008-07-11T10:13:29.796-05:00

NutriSystem recently announced the acquisition of Nu-Kitchen, a health oriented food delivery service in the New York city area. NutriSystem plans to expand the freshly prepared meal service to the north eastern part of the United States, and looking to take it nationally. The stock has responding nicely on the news, however there are a few things to keep an eye on: The terms of the deal

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-70818536623754838202008-07-03T00:56:00.009-05:002008-12-09T19:49:00.970-06:00

Sometimes while I am driving in my car I sit there salivating and admiring the freedom exhibited by motorcycles I see on the street. Unfortunately for me I have a beautiful wife who loves me dearly and does not want to see me injured by riding one of these bad boys. If you are smirking while reading this because you have one in your garage... then screw you. If you are like me and can only

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-52768883082085140562008-07-02T05:17:00.003-05:002008-07-02T05:40:27.407-05:00

Two companies which I like, but waiting for a better entry point saw pretty sharp declines June.30th. DeVry and Strayer both fell 12% and 6% respectively that day. The only news coming out was that both companies were being added to the Russell 1000 index, and what looked to 3.1 million shares of DeVry offloaded. The valuation looks more attractive, but I'm still waiting for a range below the

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-23411919055664894532008-07-01T13:40:00.005-05:002008-07-13T10:07:07.500-05:00

Q2 wrapped up with more selling. Oil broke $140/barrel, the financials continue to slide with investment firms downgrading each other, and home values continue to slide. Outlook looks pretty bleak, but there are opportunities in this environment. Some notable Q2 actions of the Ten Grand Chicago portfolio: More Nutrisystem: I decided to increase my position in NutriSystem yesterday. Given the

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-69420823905271955442008-06-27T08:48:00.004-05:002008-06-27T09:19:05.264-05:00

Disclosure: I own a position in Herman Miller (MLHR) Herman Miller reported full year results yesterday that were pretty impressive. Given the weakness in the economy, here are some of the highlights: Revenues were up 5% from last year, crossing the $2 billion mark.Record earnings at $2.56/share, a 29% increase over last yearCash flow from operations increased 55%, resulting in an ending cash

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-54404986151221581212008-06-26T14:49:00.001-05:002008-06-26T14:50:39.585-05:00

I’ve been window shopping down the street checking out a few names, trying to formulate my list of companies to buy for days like today. Some of the few things that are on my radar include: Nokia (NOK) Harley Davidson (HOG) Homebuilders ETF (XHB) NASDAQ ETF (QQQQ) As destructive and bloody as the day is today, it’s time to do a little shopping. It’s hard to time these bottoms, but a little

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-19283173322497098732008-06-22T08:01:00.025-05:002008-12-09T19:49:02.870-06:00

Disclosure: I do not own Strayer (STRA) Let me introduce you to a business that currently has finely tuned operations, Strayer, Inc. During my analysis covering the educational services sector, Strayer had turned up as one of the companies I was interested in as a possible investment. Unfortunately it has taken me an extended amount of time to run through Strayer’s 10k’s, earnings calls, and

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-48549668335376157782008-06-16T21:05:00.003-05:002008-06-16T21:11:49.846-05:00

A few readers have emailed me to ask if they could borrow some of my material, or cross post it on other sites. I absolutely have no problem with this at all, in fact it is great to see people find some value of out my write-ups, even the bad feedback is good. However I have seen bits and pieces of my material show up on other sites showing up as "XYZ Editorial Staff"... some if it looks

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-12664276155374798632008-05-20T06:41:00.004-05:002008-05-20T06:54:43.820-05:00

I dug around some more last night regarding the DOJ's investigation into recruiting compensation. It looks to be centered around whether their recruiters receive compensation on the number of students they enroll (ie. a commission). Amy Junker, an analyst from Robert W. Baird mentioned that this was probably a routine matter and that such claims are hard to prove, thus presenting a buying

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-67587023639107136002008-05-19T11:18:00.003-05:002008-05-20T06:54:58.985-05:00

DeVry announced this morning that it was cooperating fully with the Department of Justice inquiry regarding “recruiter compensation”. I’ve been waiting on the sidelines waiting for DeVry’s stock to get into a more favorable valuation range, but this piece of news adds a slight tinge to things. The recruiters’ main job is to go out and recruit students by going to high schools, and other PR

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-55185176107665545972008-04-30T11:22:00.004-05:002008-12-09T19:49:03.043-06:00

While I'm busying working out my analysis on Strayer (STRA, impressive quarterly report today by the way), I took up an entry position today on Herman Miller (MLHR) to start out my Q2 plays. This position is also part of my continued test of Joel Greenblatt's magic formula system. I scrummaged through a series of screens and decided to pick up Herman Miller purely on valuation and operating

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-9276334885040601622008-04-27T06:07:00.006-05:002008-04-28T22:14:53.062-05:00

Not too long ago I had analyzed Amazon.com, and had decided to stay away from the stock eventhough I liked what they did from a customer's perspective. Within the first week of January, Mark Manahey of Citigroup cited that for 2008, "Margin Expansion alone could drive double-digit EPS Growth". and that, "Mahaney says he sees 10% upside to the Street’s ‘08 EPS estimates for Amazon “driven by

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-39864427654248867142008-04-27T05:38:00.006-05:002008-04-27T05:56:06.766-05:00

DeVry’s (DV) performance this past quarter was quite impressive. Compared to the same period one year ago: Revenue is up 18.4% to $291 million Operating Income up 70.9% to $50.6 million (17.3% operating income margin) Net Income up 67.2% to $38.3 million These results come on top of some very impressive enrollment numbers: New undergraduate enrollment increased 12.1% to 12,410 students Total

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-1503776189883843002008-04-24T03:47:00.019-05:002008-12-09T19:49:04.179-06:00

Disclosure: I do not own DeVry (DV). From my last analysis on student lending, I had whittled down the group of for-profit educational stocks to two companies which I thought as possible investments given their minimal exposure to current private lending troubles. The two companies were DeVry (DV) and Strayer (STRA). I’m going to start off with DeVry today. Consider this part 3 of a made for

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-6144430803375495402008-04-23T14:47:00.004-05:002008-04-23T14:50:47.124-05:00

Some things to keep an eye out for tonight and tomorrow evening when NutriSystem (NTRI) and DeVry (DV) report. NutriSystem: Focus in on guidance going into the next quarter, as they pre-announced top line revenues above their previous guidance a few weeks ago. It should give some indication as to whether they will be following a under promising, and over delivering strategy for the next little

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-71615787058828439252008-04-23T03:11:00.005-05:002008-04-23T03:24:02.018-05:00

Trimeris reported first quarter sales of its only drug Fuzeon declining 34% compared to the same period a year ago. In previous quarters, sales outside North America managed to offset the losses domestically. That is not the case anymore as sales outside of North America also suffered a precipitous drop of 26%. The company might able to work out another favorable agreement with their partner

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-86218854549918524822008-04-08T22:08:00.005-05:002008-04-08T22:24:15.250-05:00

NutriSystem issued preliminary first quarter results today with revenues coming in at $216 million compared to the original range the company projected of $200 to $210 million. A management change is also in the works as Joseph Redling, an ex-AOL executive, will take over as CEO. The stock surged up today 24%. Mr.Redling will be looking to beef up their online strategy to make it more core to

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-36156074991822567942008-04-04T00:08:00.009-05:002008-04-08T21:58:35.727-05:00

The first quarter has come and gone putting the Ten Grand Chicago portfolio through its paces. The equities market went on a roller coaster ride with the Bear Stearns fiasco, credit markets tightening up, and the Fed stepping in to inject some liquidity into the markets. The portfolio suffered a drop of 0.54% year to date which is not too bad when compared to the S&P 500 index which fell 8.6%. In

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-14170134372005477302008-04-03T23:41:00.009-05:002008-09-06T17:31:46.976-05:00

Listed below are some other sites that I highly recommend. Wikinvest.com: Mike Sha and Parker Conrad, two Harvard grads started this site not too long ago, and has since attracted a number of contributors from the investment community to author content for this site. It is somewhat a different take from SeekingAlpha.com, beefed up with various tools like WikiChart and WikiData (you'll have to

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-54024431717915960012008-03-30T22:10:00.018-05:002008-12-09T19:49:05.217-06:00

Disclosure: I do not own a position in ESI, CECO, DV, APOL, STRA During the dot-com crash years I found myself moving from one company to the next as each company declared bankruptcy. All those lavish parties fueled by ridiculous expense accounts on virtual business plans are now but just a pleasant memory (it wasn’t fun at the time). What I do remember were several people who made the

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-71657362978771134112008-03-17T20:18:00.014-05:002008-12-09T19:49:05.703-06:00

I spent this weekend reading up on the Bear Stearns news. So much has been written up about them that I don't really have anything useful to offer. Except maybe for some lighter commentary for those who own XLF. I couldn't help but see a familiar character in the Ex-CEO of Bear Stearns and the guy who played "Biff" in "Back to the Future". Maybe it's just me. In any case, maybe

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-32270576633478230252008-03-15T05:26:00.008-05:002008-12-09T19:49:06.077-06:00

Trimeris just came out with their 4th quarter and 2007 year end numbers. Plugging this into my cash flow analysis results in a new valuation range: So what happened in the 4th quarter numbers to help push the low/high end valuation range from my original analysis? The company increased its cash position to $60.6 million through additional “collaboration income” from their partner Roche, and

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-14757754461211132762008-03-08T23:06:00.019-06:002008-12-09T19:49:06.723-06:00

Disclosure: I own a position in TRMS I’ve been working in the technology field for several years designing and laying down systems to push bits and bytes around over the web. Anyone that works in this industry knows that in order to stay competitive, one must dedicate themselves to continuous research and development. So when a company such as Trimeris whose sole foundation is based upon

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-83941413141239199472008-02-29T13:21:00.004-06:002008-02-29T18:01:33.537-06:00

While working on my playbook, I couldn't help but notice the AIG news today. AIG reported a $5.3 billion dollar quarterly loss today which has riled the markets. I have been watching XLF the last few days and think it is a good time to open up a position for the long haul. There is no need to over analyze this if you fundamentally believe in the long term sustainability of the US capital

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-55924532066898935432008-02-25T23:14:00.001-06:002008-04-28T22:19:22.423-05:00

I've been keeping busy digesting and analyzing information for the last little while but I wanted to share some possible ideas that will help my approach going into the 2nd quarter. The Ten Grand portfolio has stumbled a bit out of the gate, most notably my call on NutriSystem (NTRI). There have been a few companies I have been following of late, but I haven't completed the full set of research

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-49943343102926536222008-02-17T01:58:00.029-06:002008-12-09T19:49:08.919-06:00

Disclosure: I own a long position in PCU. When you turn on the TV these days or open up the papers, there is much talk about investors parking their money into gold. It’s “safe” and “recession proof” as some people say. If you had picked up gold a few years ago, it definitely would have been a wise investment choice. Copper, on the other hand isn’t a commodity that is covered as much. It

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-16584246991402859172008-02-17T01:44:00.012-06:002009-04-05T11:03:17.554-05:00

AMZN, Amazon.com DST, DST Systems Inc. NTRI, NutriSystem PCU, Southern Copper Corporation TRMS, Trimeris DV, DeVry, Inc. STRA, Strayer MLHR, Herman Miller

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-55684815628697390072008-02-08T09:21:00.000-06:002008-02-09T09:00:05.922-06:00

It looks like the big investors are taking up action on Nutrisystem this past month (a member of the ten grand portfolio). Firms who like the value: Citigroup Financial Products, increases total stake to 5.9%Bridger Management, increases total stake to 5.3%Legg Mason Oppotrunity Trust, increases total stake 10.2% Firms who had enough: Turner Investment Partners, sold off more than 5% of its

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-28290317837674540142008-02-05T17:31:00.000-06:002008-12-09T19:49:09.850-06:00

The market had a field day with the DOW dropping 370 points today. All of this because the Institute of Supply Management released the non-manufacturing (services) report indicating a contraction in the service sector’s business activity to 41.9% in January from 54.4% in December.[1] My first gut reaction was quite a shock. When you look at magnitude of such a drop you wonder if we really are

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-86520297448579184042008-02-04T11:34:00.000-06:002008-02-05T03:08:29.572-06:00

A lot of analysts, investors, traders, and ordinary people like me sometimes spend more time focusing on when to enter into a position, but not on when to exit. So far my first lot of stocks from my test of Mr.Greenblatt’s system is doing ok, although it is still very early. The system calls for the investor to exit their winning positions exactly 1 year after purchase to minimize the capital

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-25746041890480318052008-02-03T23:17:00.001-06:002008-12-09T19:49:10.314-06:00

Disclosure: I sold DST on Feb/5/2008 I used to love watching cop shows back in the 80’s, cop movies, or more recently Law and Order SVU. You know the scenes where the cop crosses the line by punching the suspect at the station, which is then followed up by the Captain ordering the cop to desk duty with the following quip, “You do that again Sonny and you’ll be pushing paper for the rest of your

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-53936182190073612112008-01-30T23:26:00.106-06:002011-08-12T22:58:44.610-05:00

Symbol Company Date Acquired Qty Purchase Price Market Price (Q2 2011) Market Value (Q2 2011) Total 11,922.08 XLF Financial Select SPDR Feb.29.2008 20 25.94 15.95 319.00 XLF Financial Select SPDR Sep.17.2008 27 18.59 15.95 430.65 XHB SPDR S&P Homebuilders June.26.2008 28 17.39 17.39 486.92 HOG Harley Davidson July.2.2008

DThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268034607303011080noreply@blogger.com1