Formerly today's hot stocks.
03/20/06
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. – Malcome Forbes
IBD's top rated stocks:
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/high0320_06.html
So, does the Snowman come through for you? Well he came through for me!
ABAX – the portable blood analyzer (for vampires on the go) up almost 8% to a new high! It might pull back a little to form a handle b4 it goes higher – but based on the current numbers – I can see this one MUCH higher. I bought this last week.http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ABAX
MFLX – maker of flexible circuits for ultra thin phones up another $1.88 – crashing through my target of 65! Bought at about 57!
Oil Sands company CWPC.ob up 17% on positive drilling news – new high on HUGE vol! http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CWPC.OB
GIGM – the on-line gambling company is announcing earnings on 3/23/06 – something made this stock jump 7% - thru $5 and nearing its old high! I have a lot of confidence in this one – it is just that reaction to earnings are unpredictable – remember DIET, NWRE, etc......
Indian company, WIT jumped 5% on good volume. Yes I sold it last week. Yes, I am WITLESS.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=WIT
Bird flu stocks, GNBT and NVAX continued to kick Bird Flu butt – each up 12%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=nvax+gnbt
XSNX.ob, which I sold on Friday, fell more today. Maybe those guys at stocklemon know something.
And the stock of the decade, according to one source, is PCR. More on that soon.
Have a cold one on me. Eugene
03/21/06
The sooner you fall behind, the more time you will have to catch up.
T'was a fine day for the market, and then in the last hour......BAMMM!!!! The roof caves in and all profits for the day are lost.........boo-hoooo.
ABAX, TTM, NOIZ, NVAX....etc....all got creamed by the end of the day. What are you gonna do?
I sold NVAX at a nice profit because it looked like it topped out two days ago and I was just waiting for a down day. It has been up like an elevator and was due for a stop on the 15th floor, where I promptly got out and bought some AVAN – another bird stock that started taking flight.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=avan
GNBT did not stop – it blasted right through the roof today – up 20% as the USA waits for the first sign of the bird flu at its shores. It might be hype, but I plan to get out of these stocks b4 they crash (unlike the hurricane clean-up stocks, the Atkins diet stocks, the Pokemon stocks, the nano-stocks, etc......)
MFLX hit 67 b4 cooling off and I finally dumped TRAD as my loss hit 8%.
This might be a sign of a turn in the bull market. Keep your profits on a short leash and watch your stops. Snowy
3/22/06
I was a Varsity tackle and a hell of a block, and when I played my guitar I made the canyons rock! – Meatloaf (All Revved Up and No Place to Go).
GNBT was rocking my canyon today – up 16% - but then falling deep in the canyon by the end of the day – down 11%. That is one big swing. I got out with a 70% gain – as I see the Bird Flu stocks cooling off for now. Or like with NVAX, it could be a secondary! AVAN also took a swan dive, but I only bought a bit yesterday and I will keep it close.
I made some buys today – CHRS is a clothing store for large women. The chart is nice and the performance of Dress Barn and CWTR are telling me that I need to own some women's clothing (ok, this big guy at the gym, Bubba, is telling me too.) What I also like about this stock is that it has been getting a lot of ink in IBD and is approaching 15 – which means it is ripe for the IBD 100!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=chrs
Another company I had that fell off the IBD 100 is back in range, security co. NSSC. It was up on strong vol and finished a hair under 15.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nssc
I also bought FCFS. They are one of the leading pawn shops in the south. They have branched out to Mexico and their business is booming. They have a great chart and today they took a $2 drop – then bounced back into the green. That means green to me. I think this one is a winner.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=fcfs
And I bought one of the oldest and largest builders in the country, PCR - the stock of the decade!
GIGM reports earnings tomorrow. I think they will do well. The stock rose a bit on the news that they were going to report, but they are still below their high.
NOIZ was rocking again – up over a buck on good vol.
XRTX reports Q1 EPS ex-items $0.28 vs Reuters consensus $0.25; guides above consensus (26.11 -0.20)
Company reports revenues of $190.5M vs Reuters $173.3M. Guides Q2 EPS to $0.83-0.93 vs Reuters of $0.56; revenues to $268-283M vs Reuters of $218.4M.
C-ya t'morrow. Snowy
3/24/06
I installed a skylight in my apartment. The people who live above me are furious.
GIGM came through with great earnings and a great forecast for the future – shares were up 16% or so at one point to finish at about $6 for double. I sold more than half of my GIGM because I did not want to push my luck. I am certain that the great numbers will begin attracting analyst's coverage.
Oil sands stock, CWPC.ob continued climbing past 6, up 6%. More large oil companies are taking the Canadian Oil Sands seriously as they take big stakes in the oil-soaked-frozen sand. Oil was up today to about $63 a barrel.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CWPC.OB
The FIX is on. The heating and engineering company does not have great numbers, but the chart is nice and it has been embraced by IBD. This stock is similar to TMI which IBD helped boost from 9 to 31. I think it will hit 15 soon.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=FIX&t=1y
Several gas stocks started gaining ground. They have been ill for a while. The big drop in price has impacted the stocks, but not much the price of home heating. NGAS is starting to work on the rt side of the base.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NGAS
Chicken prices should be rising when the bird flu hits the US, but will that help those companies or hurt them. Will folks still be willing to buy a bucket from KFC thinking that they may get infected? Word is that Humans cannot spread the virus, but birds fly and get eaten by other animals and you can catch it from them – that is what scares me! Do we go long pork, the other white meat?
Mad Money's Jim Cramer thinks we should jump aboard SVI, which Kendal mentioned 2 weeks ago. SVI is a blank check, a hollow company that buys other companies. They bought Smoothie operator, Jamba Juice, and he thinks this can be the next SBUX.
XRTX jumped 17% on yesterday's news, LVLT up 16%!
Until tomorrow, I am, Snowcat.
3/24/06
"big boy, BIG BOY!" – that commercial where the guy has to give his password, etc............
GOOG got things stirring in the portfolio today, being added to the S&P 500 revived interest in that big boy.
Oil Sands stock, CWPC.ob made a big jump today as they made it known that they are looking to jump to the American Stock Exchange. It was up to almost 8 at one point. It still finished up about a dollar.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CWPC.OB
The bird flu stocks moved up a bit today – GNBT, AVAN, HEB, NVAX. I would also think of stocking up your freezer with chicken. Should bird flu hit here, I do not know who would be eating chicken. A smart man would bring some chickens to Wall St., have them parade around, then play dead (or feed them poison). The market would go crazy! I am long chicken futures. My freezer is stocked to the brim with Nuggets!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=avan+gnbt+nvax+heb
CPST had a nice jump today – a blast from the past that may follow through.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=CPST&p=D&yr=0&
EMKR had a positive mention in Changewave and blasted off on big volume
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=emkr
Mr. Market likes Brazilian bank, BBD. I would wait for the chart to perk up, but the stock is selling for a bargain price.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=BBD&t=6m
He's a wild man/frat boy, but he knows his stocks. Read his great report!
http://www.mrmarketishuge.com/
CHRS came a nose hair from hitting 15 today! There is a good article in Business Week today on big women and the big market for plus size clothes.
http://yahoo.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2006/nf20060324_6779_db016.htm
My new favorite joke:
Chuck Norris, Vin Diesel and Arnold Schwarzenegger have all died and are in Heaven. Each of them hopes to occupy the seat next to God. God asks Vin Diesel why he thinks he should have the seat and Vin replies, "I believe... I should have the seat because of the virtuosity in my toughness and pride." Arnie says, "I believe... that I should be the one sitting next to you because of all my achievements." God then turns to Chuck Norris, who replies with, "I believe... you are sitting in my seat."
Have a great weekend. March Madness without Duke & Zag? Madness! Enjoy anyway. Snowcat.
03/27/06
Chuck Norris once gave Bruce Lee one of his famous roundhouse kicks, splitting him in half. The results were Jet Li and Jackie Chan.
IBD top 10 stocks with accelerated earnings:
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/accelerate032706.html
A rather uneventful day for the market – unless you own GNBT which got killed by a "Smartmoney" article saying it had no money and no products. These dinky companies – and you know who you are, work on the momentum of the market and it is best to take a profit when you have it.
On the other hand, there are companies like ERS, which the market bounced around like a rag doll – up over 22% since last week with a massive 11% move today, pushing it over 28! It takes real guts to stick with a stock like this and have faith in your research. That is one thing I have to learn. The day I sold ERS was the day Big Trader Susan got in – She is up 10 points and I am sitting on my hands feeling like a dope.
CWPC.ob keeps going up. This reasonably priced Oil Sands company which is headed to the American Stock Exchange is getting a lot of attention because most of the other small Oil Sands companies are on the Canadian Exchanges or high priced. I would probably wait for a pull back b4 I would add more.
INVX makes flexible circuits like MFLX and has a nice chart:
Multi-Fineline (MFLX 63.74 -0.47) has been a big winner this past year, up 220% since last July. We have been positive on the name since it was in the $9 range. As such, we looked for other small cap names in the space that look interesting. Innovex offers a full range of customized flexible circuit applications. Applications for flexible circuits include data storage devices such as hard disk drives, flat panel displays, including LCD screens for mobile devices. Customers include 3M, Hitachi, HP, Maxtor, Medtronic, Seagate, StorageTek, Xerox etc. The co is undergoing a restructuring, which should save the co $8 mln per yr with little cap-ex costs. The co is moving all of its prototyping and high volume manufacturing to Thailand and the co will divest its etched metal business. Despite the overhaul, recent results have been strong as DecQ revenue of $50.5 mln, was up 26% yoy and 6% sequentially. Illustrating the impact is that consensus EPS jumps to $0.42 next year from $0.07 this year. The stock has been steadily climbing higher, making a new 52-wk high today. Also, the stock still trades at only 0.5x sales. Mkt cap $98 mln, float float 18.3 mln, avg vol 75K.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=INVX&t=1y
Tonight, check out "Heist" – a cool action drama about the planning of a big robbery. It is a repeat of last week's premier. It is on at 10pm on NBC. (After "24". Did you know that if Chuck Norris were the lead Counter-terrorist Agent in "24", he would capture the terrorists and save the world so fast, they would have to rename it "1")! Snowcat.
03/28/06
No clever thoughts for today.
Down day all around as there is talk of interest rates going up, oil prices going up, etc.
There were some tempting morsels – NHWK, INVX, NWRE, NSSC.............but I stayed out today. PEIX, the methanol maker was up after an article mentioned that Bill Gates and Branson were big investors. The stock however is prone to big swings and the co. is far from making money.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=invx+nhwk+nwre+jsda+nssc
TTM and FCFS got downgraded, and not much else to do but look for buy prospects and keep a close watch on your holdings.
Stay with me on this one, I got your back. Snowster
03/29/06
Confucius says: "Crowded elevator smell different to midget"
Lots of different smells abound today. PETS got spayed big time on a downgrade because Vets are being more competitive with their flea medication prices. This is nothing new, but the cut was deep – about 14% and the volume was huge. I sadly sold when it was down $2 preserving a 10% gain.
Cramer dissed MFLX, saying it is too dependent on MOT and their Razr phone. The stock was promptly up $2. I am up $10 on this one and it is not slowing down.
WIRE, which makes copper wire also, had a big day, up $2. They are another high quality company that is buyable with a low pe and a growing business.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=WIRE&t=6m
TGB, a gold and copper miner which I have been holding on to, exploded today, up 11% on high volume. They are a profitable company with a low pe and the demand for copper has been strong. The price is under $3.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tgb
With oil prices rising, ethanol is of interest. With Billionaires Gates and Branson aboard, PEIX is going to continue to attract attention and money. Up another two bucks on high volume to a new high!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PEIX
AMTD, which has been falling recently, got a boost as folks realized that a rise in interest rates is really not going to impact our lives too much. TRAD, which I bailed on recently, was up too. AMTD expects earnings to exceed estimates, SCHW looks good too!
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060329/ameritrade_mover.html?.v=1
BRVO is having a cc tomorrow if there are any other bag holders.....er....investors, other than myself.
Pork, the one you love? (Different meaning if I forgot that coma, eh?) . Cramer think SFD is the one to go with as the bird flu worries spread (very low pe):
"You want to make money off the coming bird flu pandemic?" Jim Cramer asked "Mad Money" viewers Tuesday. "You got to stop thinking about drugs like Tamiflu and start thinking about livestock."
We already can't eat beef because of mad cow and cholesterol, and now with bird flu, people won't be able to eat chicken either, he said.
Pigs are the only animals left without some horrible disease that renders them inedible, he said, so he that's why he likes Smithfield Foods (SFD:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take).
He called the company the "best of breed in the pork industry" and said it is very well run. But the stock has yet to move higher on bird flu, and he said it should go up soon.
Have a good night and let's keep an eye on PETS. Snowcat.
03/30/06
"When the truth is told, you can get what you want or you can just get old" – Billy Joel, Vienna Waits for You.
Boy I was happy with my 10 point MFLX gain yesterday.........naturally Stuff happens and they announced a buyout of another company.....sounds good, but they sell to MOT too and 80% of their business will be coming from MOT. Yow! The stock dropped 5 points. I left with a 9% gain and I learned a bigggggg lesson! You too, I hope.
Bird Flu stocks AVII and NVAX had big gains today as results are progressing on a viable drug that works. EMFP.ob, a maker of filtration masks, can also take advantage of the panic.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=EMFP&p=D&yr=0&mn=3&dy=0&id=p46898239468
BREAKING NEWS ON NIHK:
Thursday, March 30, 2006 3:00 PM, EST
Nighthawk Systems Announces Additional Sales
NEW JERSEY March 23, 2006-- Nighthawk Systems Inc. (OTCBB:NIHK), a leading provider of intelligent wireless power control and emergency notification products, announced today that it has received an order for 3 boxes of Thin Mints to help support the CEO's nieces Girl Scout Troop and has sold 4 candy bars to support the cleaning ladies sons' baseball team.
These sales are as worthless as all the other actual sales that don't seem to help the share price but the company likes to release the info anyway.
Local bagholders were overheard saying"What the F?" and "I can't believe the CEO couldn't sell some Caramel Delights, those things are awesome"
Stay tuned for more on this breaking story.
That news story was from "Supergeek", and clever enough to share. Actually these Bozos come out with a new press release every 5 minutes. Just like I learned to never buy options again (or at least not admit it); I think I had it with penny stocks too. I am still holding this stock, FWIW.
E-commerce, fraud detection company, CYBS continues to look good – great chart!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CYBS
WIRE up a buck on an upgrade. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=WIRE
EZM has a low pe, sweet chart and mining Zinc seems to be a good business.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EZM&t=6m
ERS seems unstoppable, over 30 and looking better than ever.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ERS&t=1y
Let's not let anymore 10 pt gains slip through our fingers. That is like Flushing money down the toilet or donating it to the IRS, a dumb move. Tomorrow, I will try to act smarter. Snowy
QuoteLet's not let anymore 10 pt gains slip through our fingers. That is like Flushing money down the toilet or donating it to the IRS, a dumb move.
But any of those options are better than giving money to PennyKing for his pump and dump penny stock book ;D Snowcat I LOL'd when I saw your response to him on that other thread. :D
He was the Dollarking when he first started investing. Too many pump and dumpers showing up on our site with crappy penny stocks. 3 Stocks is above that and we should be able to dump these monkeys. They make this site smell.
Here is a list of stocks that are under $20 that look mighty interesting.......
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=ntes+cybs+irix+optc+cogo+lpsn+cnqr+chrs+topt+med+eng+aim+infa+mps+sfd+vtss+cosi+cell+tfsm+jsda+emfp.ob+tsm+bbd+invx+avii
I especially like COGO CHRS INFA MPS COSI. JSDA and MED are also interesting. (but MED could be DIET :( or NUTR :) and JSDA sells for 3 12 packs for $8 in TGT, so how can they make money? They also sell that nasty Turkey soda during Thanksgiving).
SFD, PCR and BBD could also be good if they pick up.
03/31/06
There comes a time in a man's life when to get where he has to go – if there are no doors or windows – he walks through a wall. – Bernard Malamud, writer
The market today was pretty stagnant – not sure where to go. There were bombings or big increases in the price of oil, so nobody knew what to do. I can imagine all those suits on Wall Street frantically running around like chickens with bird flu looking for some guidance.
There was a good article in IBD yesterday on e-commerce solution company (whatever that means) PRFT. They are a small consulting company that seems to be gaining an audience (like NWRE was last year).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=PRFT&t=1y
I put together a list of some good looking stocks under $30 that are worth a 2nd look. Particularly of interest are COGO, CHRS MED (hopefully more NTRI than DIET), INFA, MPS and COSI.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=ntes+cybs+irix+optc+cogo+lpsn+cnqr+chrs+topt+med+eng+aim+infa+mps+sfd+vtss+cosi+cell+tfsm+jsda+emfp.ob+tsm+bbd+invx+avii
This is Andy's top 100 list. He runs a scan of all stocks and comes up with his best:
http://ajaskey.wso.net/investor/AJA100.html
BRVO came out with earnings. Things seem like they are improving, but they are burning through cash quickly. The Coke deal was supposed to resolve all this.
Oh well, here is my favorite joke of the day, enjoy, SNOWY
A hillbilly couple, both real-live rednecks, had 9 children. They went to the doctor to see about getting the husband "fixed". The doctor asked them why, after nine children would they choose to do this. The husband replied that they had read in a recent article that one out of every ten children being born in North America was Mexican and they didn't want a Mexican baby because neither of them could speak Spanish.
4/3/06
Everything is relative: Gasoline Prices
2004 - $2.50 a gallon – that is crazy!
2005- $2.50 a gallon – what a bargain!
IBD's fastest growing companies:
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/fast040306.html
Semi conductors looking good – the chart on ACTS is very nice with good movement today! http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?c=acts and one of the leaders in that field, TSM
Some oil sands news: Production co (ENY) 2.07 +0.35 : Co announces that it has acquired from two arm's length parties a 100% interest in a private Alberta corporation with producing oil and natural gas assets located in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, for consideration of CDN$2,325,000, subject to closing adjustments. The purchase price has been satisfied by a cash payment of $2,100,000 and the delivery of 103,212 common shares of the Company issued at a price of CDN $2.18 per share.
This could be another good one to add to your portfolio. Oil Prices are going to continue to rise!
ADM had a good article in IBD today. It mentioned ADM as the leader in ethanol production, but the cost to produce it is only viable if the price of oil is high. I do not know at what price of gasoline America will seriously look at alternatives to oil. There is a lot of trouble brewing in the Mid-East and Africa, so we better think fast!
Look at the chart set up on MFLX.
perfect bounce point at 57 ish and made a 3pt bounce!
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=mflx&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p64328640613
IRIX looking good – up 6%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=IRIX
BRVO down 6% to .52 – below that point, I would not have confidence in this stock.
GIGM, my favorite gambling stock that doubled its earnings had a nice gain today. 11%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GIGM
PETS & GNBT continue to fall, but I'm out, big drops on big vol and I am out.
BBD is a bargain – finally an up day. Brazilian bank with great growth!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BBD
ICE is Cabot's stock of the month. They trade energy ala Enron. Looks good, but promptly down $6.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ice
it is always a good day if you are in the right stocks. Shnowcat
4/4/06
The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. – Vince Lombardi
You gotta know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em – Kenny Rogers
What to do? Hold'em or Fold'em?
Making moves on good volume:
TRLG - the stock is cheaper than the pants - up 9% on an upgrade – Overpriced jeans, but people buy them. And I bought them too.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=TRLG&t=6m
ICE - took a drop yesterday - up on good vol. They trade energy, and since Enron's fall, they are the biggest game in town. I bought a handful today. Pricey, but good. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ice
GIGM – What do you call an online Mah Jong player who lives in UTAH? GIGM Young.
It was rising on strong volume, but finished down. News today on banning online gambling means nothing to them.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gigm
PETS - drug companies will not sell to them directly - they can only buy through distributors - and they might give them problems. Their prices turn out not to be so great. Took a dive, but headed back up a bit today. I would be cautious.
http://biz.yahoo.com/tm/060404/14139.html?.v=2
WIRE got a recommendation by a pricey newsletter and was up. Copper wire is needed in building and renovations and they pass any changes in the cost of the metal to their buyers.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wire
ASVI makes off road vehicles and has some good growth. Today is the first up day in a while. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ASVI
Bird flu stocks got hit hard today – like no one will get sick. This, like the oil stocks run in cycles. The next time a bird sneezes in Guam; these stocks will be back up. But wait.
And my penny stocks look like they will continue to be penny stocks – or less. Sorry
Snowy
04/05/06
I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time. – Anna Freud
Ethanol producer, PEIX is UP 16% ON BIG VOLUME. I rode this roller coaster from 19 like a pro. I sat next to Mr. Gates and Mr. Branson. Good company to be with.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=peix
ADM also went uphill with an ethanol boost.
I sold gold miner, NTO at a 20% profit as it reached the target set by 3 Stocks on Fire. I sold 1/2 of my NIHK at a nasty loss (lunch money, but it still stings)
finally Bought some BBD, the top Brazilian bank. Mr. Market thinks this is a bargain – I think it is worth another 10 points.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=bbd
Pele is the President. If you purchase a Jumbo CD, he will do a bicycle kick for you.
Big Trader Susan thinks there is a perfect entry in Chinese company VIMC. I cannot figure out what they do, so look into it b4 you invest.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?c=vimc,uu[r,a]daclyyay[dc][pb5!b10!b20!b50!d20,2!d10,1.9!h.02,.20!f][vc60][iut!lb14!ld20!ll14!la12,26,9!lm10!lj[$spx]]
Software Company, MANU looked great today, up 9%. Great chart and unlike NIHK, it is not MANUre.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MANU
ABAX, the portable blood analyzer company was up a dollar on good volume. I like this one. And I think I slipped on ICE. It was down over $2 since I bought it yesterday. Youch! I hate that.
All else is well as it stopped snowing in NY. Relax. Snowy
SNDK is looking great today as well.Ver high volume.Crosses over it's 50dma.
4/06/06
A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.
Gen. George S. Patton
I have been looking at some of the Ethanol plays and been finding some interesting companies aside from the big boys, ADM and PEIX. There are companies that make the enzymes for the distilling process and companies that pulverize the product into nano-pieces to expedite the process. XTHN looks very interesting – it has been shooting up like a rocket, so I would probably wait for it to take a breather. This is a great article from Fortune Small Business:
Six hot innovations
Look at what today's entrepreneurs are inventing: from a sandwich that never gets soggy to a wireless picture frame to a sweet way to make gasoline.
Justin Martin, FSB contributor
February 9, 2006: 5:16 PM EST
NEW YORK (FORTUNE Small Business Magazine) - Entrepreneurs tend to stay at least one step ahead of the pack, and lately they have been widening their lead. Small businesses are generating so much that's new in our economy that more and more big corporations are buying them up to gain access to their research and development. With that in mind, we found a half-dozen entrepreneurs who have a new idea, business, or invention you're bound to be hearing about over the next year or so.
Fill 'er up with caramel
Leftover halloween candy might not seem like fuel for anything but dental cavities, but Xethanol, a firm based in New York City, may change that perception.
Xethanol turns leftover candy and other materials into ethanol
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Since 2003, Xethanol has operated two Iowa plants that can cheaply distill a gasoline additive called ethanol from bizarre sources such as stale butterscotch candy. When technicians mix the sweets with a special form of yeast, fermentation results, producing ethanol. (Typically producers of ethanol derive the clean-burning, high-octane fuel from corn.) Big oil companies then combine it with unleaded gasoline to reduce the cost of gas and the air pollution it causes.
Xethanol isn't just relying on candy for its fuel supply. This year it plans to introduce a process that will make it possible to turn all kinds of things--including cornstalks, grass clippings, and old newspapers--into ethanol. If all goes as planned, 59-year-old CEO and founder Christopher d'Arnaud-Taylor projects revenues of $15 million this year, up from $2.5 million in 2005--and the first-ever profit for Xethanol (www.xethanol.com), which he started in 2000 and took public last February. "Where there's muck, there's money," he quips.
Xethanol will use a recently discovered form of yeast to ferment various types of garbage into ethanol. It has obtained rights to the process from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where a scientist discovered that a yeast in the intestines of a type of beetle can convert plant-based waste product into ethanol.
This year d'Arnaud-Taylor intends to begin opening plants on the East Coast that will use yeast from the beetles to brew ethanol from sludge left over from paper milling. The plants will be able to make in total more than 100 million gallons of ethanol a year. That's a trickle, considering that Americans burn nearly 21 million barrels of oil every day. But it's a start. Thanks to federal subsidies and $60-a-barrel oil, it's a seller's market for ethanol.
And even if oil prices drop below $30 a barrel, Xethanol needn't worry, say experts. "Relying on cheaper processes than competitors could help the company if prices fall," says Anthony Marchese, president of Monarch Capital Group in New York City. Good news. Unless, of course, Uncle Sam takes away those hefty subsidies.
I sold ICE with an 8% loss in 3 days and will cancel my subscription to the Cabot Stock of the Month newsletter. They should subscribe to my newsletter. Snowkat
04/07/06
Amy Vanderbilt, the foremost authority on etiquette, committed suicide and apparently didn't have the courtesy to leave a note. - George Carlin
I believe Dr. Kevorkian is onto something. I think he's great. Because it is our way of saying to God, "You can't fire me. I Quit." -
Bill Maher
I'm dating a guy who's 21. That's seven in boy years. - Lisa Goich
Jokes are the only thing that is making me smile today. Good thing I got rid of ICE yesterday – it is melting away – down another 10%.
Ethanol is still the talk of the town on the message boards. OTD up 90% - they make a bio-diesel additive – on something like that. They are a development company, but Yabadabadoo found it last month and it has been on fire since:
12:45PM O2Diesel developing new fuel for Department of Defense (OTD) 2.82 +1.36 : Co announces it is now under contract to develop a new cleaner burning alternative diesel fuel for the U.S. Department of Defense. This new fuel will help to comply with Executive Order 13149 which requires federal agencies with fleets of 20 or more light, medium, and heavy-duty on-road vehicles in metropolitan areas to reduce their petroleum consumption by 20%. The fuel will be composed of at least 20% renewable sources including the company's patented and proprietary natural oil based solubilizing additive -- O2D05. This fuel, when finalized, will help the Department of Defense facilities meet local air quality requirements and strengthen its commitment to reducing the USA's dependency on foreign oil imports. The co has received a contract for $800,000 in DoD appropriations to perform this research. This and similar funding has enabled the co to be recognized for its emissions benefits and petroleum displacement opportunities in the growing and highly-segmented 55 billion gallon per year U.S. diesel fuel market.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=otd
PEIX is at a new high. They are the Ethanol Company with Gates and Branson as owners. Looks good. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PEIX
This briefing message may have beaten the stocks down:
13:05 US CONGRESS BUDGET OFFICE-CHINA DEMAND GROWTH COULD BOOST OIL PRICES BY UP TO $14/BARREL OVER 5 YRS –Reuters. Oh my.
DDSU.ob is another interesting Ethanol related stock. It is a penny stock, but the story is really good. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DDSU.OB
And yes, the article from yesterday on XTHN looked mighty like the one from a while back on SYNM. But XTHN looks like it may be close to making money.
DDS Technologies USA, Inc. commercializes a dry disaggregation and micronization system in the United States. The dry disaggregation technology processes dry ingredients and reduces the size to between 5 and 50 microns for further processing or resale. DDS Technologies was founded in 1998 and is based in Boca Raton, Florida.
Have a great weekend! It's time for some baseball.
Snowy
04/10/06
The rising tide floats all boats.
The rising tide hit the Ethanol sector, with PEIX up about $3, or 10% and XTHN up 24%. I picked up more XTHN when it dipped below 11 today. I can see it in the same ballpark with PEIX soon.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=XTHN.OB
GPRE UP 16%
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?c=gpre,uu[r,a]daclyyay[dc][pb5!b10!b20!b50!d20,2!d10,1.9!h.02,.20!f][vc60][iut!lb14!ld20!ll14!la12,26,9!lm10!lj[$spx]]
3 employees. Do they get healthcare benefits?
They get all the grain al-ki-hol they can drink.
All an efficient ethanol plant needs is 3 people. They need one to make the poopy, one to shovel it into the machine, and one to open the spigot and get the ethanol. (They have to hire someone else if they plan on selling it and making money).
With PEIX, Gates and Branson need one more partner, maybe Trump.
Looks like the bird flu money is going into ethanol.
Someone must have thought ERS makes ethanol +3!!
IIC Top 10 Under $10
LPSN,ININ,ARGN,CYB,SWB,CDE,SWW,DSGX,NTCT,CBJ
http://trimurl.com/4XP
Portable blood analyzer maker, ABAX was up 6% today. They are a quality company with a good future. They are # one on the IBD medical list (with QDEL as #2)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=abax
Mining company TGB was up another 9% as gold and silver make new highs.
I sold TRLG and AVAN because they stunk up my portfolio.
Runaway train, RUN up almost 50%! http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=run
Enjoy your money! Watch out for tax selling. Snowcat
04/11/06
Talent wins games; teamwork wins championships – Michael Jordan
Oil prices went hire today and predictions of even higher prices by summer drove stock prices down. The oil stocks, ABLE BDCO, GEOI, etc did well while ethanol companies had some profit taking after yesterday's run. I added more XTHN as it dipped below 12 today.
http://stockcharts.com/candleglance/?GEOI,MPET,BDCO,ABLE,FUEL,TGC%20,ENY%20|B
The company I featured on Friday, DDSU.ob made some big gains today on a newsletter pump. It does look interesting. This company has a process that nano-izes organic material so it can be more efficiently broken down and distilled into ethanol.
They have a relationship with XTHN. Whereby XTHN has to buy 30 of their machines if they want to be exclusive with them (or something like that)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DDSU.OB
they have 4 employees - a good sign - one to ring the register.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=DDSU.OB
There is a link to their deal with XTHN http://www.ddstechusa.com/
I found a chart that looks good, Argentine farmer, CRESY. Selling for about $15, it could make it to the IBD 100. It has a low PE, sales and earnings are growing steadily and there are a small number of shares outstanding. It made a nice gain earlier in the week but is down 4% today. I will watch this one.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cresy
ENY takers – Oil Sands company up 12% today
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?c=eny,uu[r,a]daclyyay[dc][pb5!b10!b20!b50!d20,2!d10,1.9!h.02,.20!f][vc60][iut!lb14!ld20!ll14!la12,26,9!lm10!lj[$spx]]
I got hit bad in several stocks today – ABAX (still good), PCR (another Cabot pick which stinks), PEIX (profit taking, and very volatile), VIMC (a Susan pick which was great yesterday and down big today with the other semis), WIRE (I still like, a Mr. Market pick) and BBD (I had to sell it – the company looked good, the stock looked bad).
It happens.
Last Sunday I went to an Arena Football Game – indoor football. Yes, I know I invented it back in 1969 with my cousin Ricky in my Aunt's living room. But this was fun to watch, inexpensive, exciting and good family fun. There are teams in most areas, it real football on a smaller field so the action is fast, players get knocked over the sideline walls and footballs that are overthrown into the stands become souvenirs. Something you may want to check out today instead of looking at your beaten down portfolio. Snowster http://sports.yahoo.com/arena
Yeah Snowy I like Arena football. I sometimes watch the game of the week on Sunday. Beats regular season NBA basketball.
I go to the NY Dragons games all the time. My kids have a whole Dragons wardrobe. I like to sit front row behind the goal posts (and cheerleaders). If you need tickets (or anyone out there does) let me know - I usually get some comps.
Next home game is 4/29 - Aaron Garcia Night (he is the Joe Montana of Arena Football - currently out with a broken leg) 7:30. Tiny bronze statues of Garcia for the 1st 4000.
You see a lot of good college players and ex- NFLers there.
04/12/06
Good pitching will always stop good hitting, and visa versa. – Casey Stengel
Yesterday's stock pullback gave me a dose of reality. PEIX dropped a couple of points today as folks took profits in the ethanol stocks. The price of ethanol has greatly risen in the past few months.
XTHN continues to get lots of newsletter pumping and OTD just got a push from a widely read newsletter (Jeff Seigle's Green Letter). OTD is a tiny developmental company that supposedly has a fuel additive that will reduce emissions. The US govt has a new rule that US govt vehicles must meet certain emission standards. They got a small order from the DOD. The newsletters are playing this up big. Ride the wave and make some money if you can – it could be another XSNX.
http://www.o2diesel.net/
GIGM, the online gambling company still looks strong in the mid $6 area.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gigm
Oil stocks fell today and the Bombay Stock Market was down, so TTM fell too. (It is interesting how traders buy & sell TTM after seeing how it performed the day prior in Bombay)
Have a Happy Passover. Snowcat
04/13/06
"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." - Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
CXN Circle Group -- Small Cap Focus (1.92 +0.44)
On our Small Cap Focus page, we profile Circle Group, which develops fat replacement products. Its Z-Trim product is a natural zero calorie fat-substitute made from the hulls of corn, oats, soy, rice, barley that lowers 25% to 50% of calories from fats in most foods without negatively affecting taste or texture. The co is still in the pilot production stage, and as such, we would not hold the stock below support in the $1.20 level as it's a bit speculative. However, with a new plant, a number of pilot programs, no debt, and with the stock pushing to a new 52-week high, CXN is worth a look. I bought some today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cnx
Good article on TTM in IBD – worth a look. I am still positive on this one.
OTD had a strong day – the newsletters are pumping the stuffing out of this one – regardless of what I think of the company, there are profits to be made in the stock.
I think the replacement of MBTE with Ethanol is going to be a major boost for the ethanol stocks. This is one of the major reasons the price of gas has risen so quickly. Up 19%. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=otd
I am still strong on the Oil Sands - and when CWPC makes it to the AMEX, it will be one of the few pure oil sands plays on a major board. I bought some today because the chart looked ready. Up 9%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cwpc.ob
CYBS looks like it is coming out of its slide. A good solid company which is a buy and hold. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CYBS&t=1y
XTHN had a wild run and people are still taking profits – but do make sure this is in your portfolio along with ADM and PEIX. Buy small chunks and tuck them away somewhere with your SBUX, TTM and PCR – they will pay off in the future.
This should fly tomorrow:
15:51 ALKS Alkermes and Cephalon receive FDA approval of Vivitrol for the treatment of alcohol dependence (21.56 +0.49)
Co announces the FDA has approved VIVITROL for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Cephalon (CEPH) and the co expect VIVITROL to be available to physicians and patients in the United States by the end of June 2006. VIVITROL will be available as a single dose 380 mg intramuscular injection. Based on a joint commercialization agreement signed in June 2005, Cephalon has primary responsibility for the marketing and sales of VIVITROL and the co is responsible for manufacturing VIVITROL. Under the terms of the agreement, the co receives a milestone payment of $110 mln from Cephalon upon the FDA approval.... Co also says Naltrexone has the capacity to cause hepatocellular injury when given in excessive doses. Naltrexone is contraindicated in acute hepatitis or liver failure, and its use in patients with active liver disease must be carefully considered in light of its hepatotoxic effects. The margin of separation between the apparently safe dose of naltrexone and the dose causing hepatic injury appears to be only five-fold or less. VIVITROL does not appear to be a hepatotoxin at the recommended doses.
Have a happy Easter. Shhhhnnowwy
04/17/06
"Aim towards the Enemy" – Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher
Many Gems can be found in the top 10 under $10
IIC Top 10 Under $10
GIGM,LPSN,ININ,CDE,ARGN,DTLK,NTCT,CYB,CBJ,SWB
http://trimurl.com/4Z0
IBD top 10 under $10
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/low041706.html
A couple of surprises today as ALKS, which got FDA approval on a drug which fights alcoholism did not take off (it was down pennies) and OTD, the fuel additive company which took a major swoon on Thursday afternoon in the AH, ended the day in the green! That is why you do not do business in the AH.
Gas prices keep rising – ABLE and GEOI having stellar days.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=geoi+able
And in turn, Ethanol stocks were great gainers, notably PEIX (gets a big equity injection, up $4) and XTHN (up 30%) (ADM did not come out and play today)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=peix+xthn.ob+otd
FCFS, one of the better pawn shops out there was up 5%. WIRE up 8% ($2.61) and the drillers and the miners, TGC, TGB and ENY all looked good.
CWPC.ob and other oil sands company, UTS.to took advantage of the good oil prices and was up nicely.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CWPC.OB
The Citco station nearby just raised their prices to $3.03 for a gallon of regular. Make sure your investments keep pace.
The Cabot "Stock of the Month" newsletter canceled my subscription at my request: Their pick, ICE went from 71 to 59 in 3 weeks (actually even lower) – either it was bad timing, or they really stink. But they will do it without my money.
Even I could pick better than that. Have a great evening. Snowcat
04/18/06
"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend." – US Marine Corps.
A lot of green in the portfolio pasture today. The big red is PEIX, up $4 one day and down $3 the next. It is still a way to make money. (It was down over $4 today and bounced back a lot – the sign of a strong stock in an explosive industry)
The mining stocks looked great with TGB up 12%! It could be best of the gold mining stocks!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=TGB
WIRE up another dollar as copper goes up and the wire maker just passes on the costs.
GIGM is still one of my favorites as the gambling company nears $7. It is working with its Funtown subsidiary to make a Mah-Jong game for X-Box (big in the Far East).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gigm
ALKS looks like a buy to me as the potential for their alcohol treatment drug is mind numbing. It has FDA approval; all they have to do is box it and sell it, right?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ALKS&t=1y
Medical supplier, PSSI finally has an up day. This stock is one of the best – it has been basing for a while. They just hit $1bil in annual sales!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=PSSI&t=1y
ANAD, the RFID Company looks to be in breakout mode after rest period.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?c=anad
I have got to leave early today, so watch my stuff for me. The military quotes at the beginning are in honor of the brave soldiers who are fighting for us in Iraq and Afghanistan. Snowcat.
04/19/06
"If the enemy is in range, so are you." – Infantry Journal
Gold prices were up as predictions for $1000/oz gold come from respectable sources. The last time gold took a step towards $800 was during the 1980's oil crisis. It is a familiar scenario.
The stock of the day was a big mover, RGUS.ob. They make a rotary engine that is used in unmanned planes and there is hope that this low maintenance, fuel efficient engine can be adapted for other uses. It is being pumped by a major newsletter.
CAVEAT: OTD was pumped up too, and it took a major dip today. It had no earnings, a product in development and a measly $800k dod contract to develop a fuel. Sometimes you make $, sometimes you don't.
http://www.otcstockreview.com/rgus
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rgus.ob
here is some info from one of the boards:
Engine nearly 20 years in development.
7) Only 23,811,975 shares with no r/s that I know of. No convertibles out there. Only 50,000,000 shares authorized.
6) New patent applications
5) Recent successful tests used cams of the new patent application design
(taped and on website www.regtech.com )
4) Fuel efficiency and multi-fuel capability makes it likely to be covered by main stream media if it proves itself
3) Ability to run on diesel makes it a good fit for the military
2) Quiet, perfect for generators and unmanned aerial vehicles
1) North American automakers troubles will force them to take greater risks. Super quiet, fuel efficient yet powerful rotary engine which also can be used as a generator in hybrid vehicle applications should be of interest.
RGUS holds the US rights; REGRF (or RRE in Canada) holds the worldwide rights to the Rand Cam engine.
TZOO which was a $100 stock recently and fell to the floor is making major gains after a good earnings report.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tzoo
Heating and AC firm, FIX is near 15 and could be a great candidate for the IBD 100.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=FIX
ERS is near 40 now and had the IBD 100 push.
PTSC.ob made a major bounce today, up 32% - volatile, but has lots of contracts!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=gigm+ezm+med+cybs+fix+ptsc.ob
FCFS down on good earnings, WIRE up over $40! Adios, Amebas - Snowpie
04/20/06
"Any ship can be a minesweeper........once," – Anonymous
I felt like a minesweeper today, the way my stocks imploded. LSI was down big because another company lost the contract to supply chips for the new I-Pods. Huh? LSI did not get the contract, but they might, but they did not yet, so it went down 8%. Go figure. Same good co., same numbers, but because they may not get a contract that they did not have in the first place and had no plans of getting, the stock went down.
Here is a list of under $10 stocks with great charts swiped from a popular newsletter:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?s=MED,GRVY,DENN,ICOC,ASX,IMCO,HEC,MKTY,VLNC,VWPT,PRVT,SOFO,MANU&d=v2
GRVY, DENN were added to the portfolio and they increased their shares of MED, one of my favorites.
Yesterday, CEMI got conditional FDA approval on their HIV test:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CEMI.OB&t=6m
Nice chart, up 19%.
Flavored milk maker, BRVO got a licensing deal with General Foods to make Milk drinks after the Cereals. I hope they don't try to pass the 3 Musketeers Bravo off as the Coco Puffs and the Starburst Milk off as the Trix. That would be heinous!
ALKS showed some green today. I think their drug that fights alcoholism (and why not obesity) will be a big success!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ALKS
The ethanol stocks took a breather and we will try to cash in b4 the bubble on these burst. The $84M cash injection by Bill Gates in PEIX gives me hope that there is money to be made here (then again, $84M to Gates is chump change).
CYBS fell – it is volatile and TTM was up almost a buck.
A story from Bill Bryson, too funny:
The British Embassy in Paris is called by a French newspaper:
"What does the Ambassador wish for Christmas?
- He can't possibly accept gifts from the Press.
No, really, what is his Christmas wish?
- We don't accept gifts -
No, we are asking all the ambassadors.
- All right, put him down for a small box of chocolate mints.
This appeared in an article as follows:
The German Ambassador's Christmas wish is for "Peace on Earth Good will towards all men".
The American Ambassador's Christmas wish is for freedom and free trade on an equal footing between democratic nations.
The British Ambassador would like a small box of chocolate mints.
Good Day, Mates. Snowy
04/21/06
"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection." – Joe Gay
I found some problems in inspecting PEIX. First, there are two new ethanol IPO's in the pipeline which should steal some of the spotlight from PEIX. They are not making any money. Their plants do not look like they are near ready to run. Their locations in California are not near any corn fields. Their chart recently passed wave 5 and is headed for a correction. There is massive insider selling....etc. I got out at 30 with a 53% gain.
I sold LSI as it continued to fall for no reason for a 9% loss.
I sold WIRE at 40 for a nice gain. It was fully priced according to Mr. Market at about 36 and I just rode the wave for a bit longer.
I bought some GV, an electrical contracting company selling for under $2. It has earnings, a low pe and a wonderful chart. It is also a pick of TA master, Elite G!
It was up 10% today. I hope the only reason it was up was not because the name is Goldfield http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gv
RGUS.ob, the company that makes the rotary type engine was up 46% today. I mentioned it two days ago. Here is the info again:
http://www.otcstockreview.com/rgus
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rgus.ob
Engine nearly 20 years in development.
7) Only 23,811,975 shares with no r/s that I know of. No convertibles out there. Only 50,000,000 shares authorized.
6) New patent applications
5) Recent successful tests used cams of the new patent application design
(taped and on website www.regtech.com )
4) Fuel efficiency and multi-fuel capability makes it likely to be covered by main stream media if it proves itself
3) Ability to run on diesel makes it a good fit for the military
2) Quiet, perfect for generators and unmanned aerial vehicles
1) North American automakers troubles will force them to take greater risks. Super quiet, fuel efficient yet powerful rotary engine which also can be used as a generator in hybrid vehicle applications should be of interest.
RGUS holds the US rights; REGRF (or RRE in Canada) holds the worldwide rights to the Rand Cam engine.
Oil sands co. ENY was up 8% on oil hitting $75 a barrel.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ENY
Pawn shop operator, FCFS up a buck. People need to pawn their valuables to pay for gas. Gold miner, TGB, up 6% to almost $3.50
Ethanol maker XTHN up a dollar on high oil prices. BRVO, which was up 17% yesterday, was up again today on a new marketing deal with Coke for better distribution. OTD was up nicely, though I am still wary about their business and GIGM continues to fly upward!
Not too bad! Some great NBA and NHL playoff action this weekend, so have a good one!
Your pal, Snowy
04/24/06
If your attack is going too well, you are walking into an ambush. – Infantry Journal
Things were going too well – AMTD doubled quarterly profits and promptly fell on huge volume. PEIX which I thought was a sell due to a load of insider selling and other bad news was up over $2. That is what I get for trying to use logic in this market run by fear and greed.
Today there was a good article on CYBS, a company that simplifies and secures payments over the internet in IBD. It is a gem under $10 and worth looking into.
It had a rough day today, but what didn't?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cybs
Some of the money I got from the sale of AMTD and PEIX , I recycled into some more XTHN and MSGI. Both are ethanol companies, I just feel a little better about their future and finances.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=XTHN.OB
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mgpi
If you are entranced by the incredible performance of HANS, IBD did a feature on beverages – keying on boutique soda maker, JSDA. They are a fancy soda maker that sells in SBUX, Panera Bread, Tattoo parlors and other off the beaten path establishments.
They have a good following and their diet root beer is rumored to rectify tattooing mistakes. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=jsda
I still like CRESY, a SA agricultural and farm company. It is a big company – probably some link to ethanol too.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cresy
TZOO is going wild and I sold WIRE just in time!
I don't want to imply that the Yankee's first baseman, Jason Giambi is doing Steroids again, but yesterday he bunted two homers into the upper deck!
Good investing to you all, Snowcat
I really enjoy this thread snowcat! ;) Your military quotes are great! TZOO is a monster.. made for short squeeze rallies. Good Trading to you Snow. 8)
04/25/06
"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground." – USAF ammo Troop
The bombs were exploding on my portfolio today with nothing left unscathed. I am waiting for the US to send in some foreign aid as even TTM got a haircut.
I bought TGC and TGB weeks ago because I could not remember which one was the one I wanted. So I bought both. I'm up 50% on each. What a dope! TGC was up 18% on the day.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=TGC
I was concerned earlier in the week at WIRE's earnings. I knew they would be great, but was unsure how the stock would react. Well, earnings were awesome and the stock is up 10% after hours. It happens.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=WIRE
Audio company, IFO, which was basing for a long time since I sold it at 17, had a big breakout today, up 14% on strong volume. This is a great company with strong numbers.
Definitely one to watch!
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui
In the "I know nothing department", NTRI, which I bought at 14 and sold at 17 was up 17 today (34%). Amazing, but true! Now selling at 68!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ntri
My recent purchase, and IBD top 10 under $10, MED, went with the Momentum MED is the place to be - great numbers and a chart to die for! Die of starvation, that is. People on a MED diet look great! I can tell those people when I see them on Jones Beach.
NTRI people always have a donut in their hand.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MED.
Other things I sold a while ago: STRL is looking very nice. The Texas construction company is looking strong as hurricane season approaches.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=strl
This is enough for today. Tomorrow will be better. Snowy
04/26/06
"Tracers work both ways." – US Army Ordnance
Oil prices fell today and that caused some stocks to rise, but caused the hot "alternative energy" market, ethanol, solar power, oil sands, etc to fall. But still the local gas prices shot up because the price of oil only immediately impacts the price of gas when it is going up.
STRL, which I picked up yesterday, was up 7% on 3x adv. The construction company that does mainly municipal work in TX got a good backlog and a thriving business. They took off last year when the hurricane damage occurred. The stock was up 7%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=STRL&t=1y
Jones Soda, JSDA, is looking good. The Boutique soda company keeps inching up. I would not be surprised to see a boutique energy drink from them. Take some nasty lemon soda, delete the bubbles, add caffeine and charge $2 a can. Voila! Energy drink!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=JSDA
Maker of portable blood analyzer machines, ABAX, has earnings coming out tomorrow. Against my better judgment, I will hold. So far I am 0 for 2 with earnings this quarter.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ABAX
New issue, VIMC was up 9% after a dismal week. They report earnings today. I think this tech company will do well, but who knows? I still like them.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=VIMC
RGUS.ob, which plans to make super efficient engines, was up 17% today. It might be all hype ala XSNX and OTD, but if there is money to be made, I am there. I entered this in the 3SOF contest, but for some reason it is not there. A sure winner!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=RGUS.OB
I did some homework yesterday- HERE are some interesting stocks that are ethanol related. Remember, PEIX and XTHN have no earnings, so here are some real ones:
MGPI - remember this from the Adkins craze - they are one of the biggest alcohol distillers in the US
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mgpi
STKL - Bush spoke about Switch Grass - this company works with it. They have a profitable organic food business
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=stkl
IMCO - they make parts that convert engines to use ethanol.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=imco
Ethanol is corrosive to engine parts. Also, the MPG you get is less with ethanol than with gasoline! But ethanol is made from old vegetation, gasoline comes from old dinosaurs.
Another energy stocks that is being mentioned on the boards is SRGG. I see no earnings, but it has gotten a lot of play from newsletters and spammers.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=srgg.ob
Not the best report, but it will only make tomorrows look better. Snowcat
04/27/06
"Five second fuses only last three seconds." – Infantry Journal
The fuse counted down on ethanol and mineral stocks as Oil prices pulled back a little. They went up very fast and are due to come down a bit with the President's initiative, etc.
The fear is now inflation, the dollar buying less. Last year, $20 bought 10 gallons of gas, this year it will only buy 6. The price of anything is transported with oil or made from oil will go up in price. That means everything except your salary. If people think folks will buy fewer cars, computers, clothes, houses or anything, it will impact the stock market.
I held ABAX through earnings and got poked in the butt again. When will I learn? The stock dropped 9%!
Elite G of 3SOF likes STKL, the organic food company that dabbles in ethanol. They are a profitable company with a nice chart, but earnings are due shortly and I would be cautious. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=stkl around $10
JFK said that the best time to fix a roof is when the sun is shining. Be patient on the ethanol stocks for now as prices retreat. As ethanol replaces MBTE, the demand will remain strong. In TX, several gas stations were closed because there was not enough ethanol to treat the gasoline. So keep an eye on XTHN, PEIX, MSGI, etc.
There was a good article on JSDA. The company is getting a lot of press and the chart is very sweet. Now if the berry-lemon pop could replace ethanol, we'd be in good shape. Most skateboarders prefer ethanol to the berry-lemon pop, btw.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/pom/pomsut/10281455.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
ASTSF has been on fire recently with a picture perfect chart.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?c=astsf,uu[r,a]daclyyay[dc][pc10!c20!c50!d20,2!c200!d10,1.9!i!b50!b200!f][vc60][iuo14!lp14,3,3!ld20!lg!lc20!ll14!lb14!la12,26,9]
They do semiconductor testing and processing in Taiwan. It sells for just over $10.
TZOO dropped 7% after a great run. It went from 53 to 38 this week. There might be more to go with this stock as people who want to travel will be looking for bargains.
Best of the Chinese Mah-Jongg companies, GIGM continues to soar as it breaks through 8. I am up about 174% on what I have left of this one.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gigm
Let us hope for a good run into the weekend tomorrow. Because you are the best! Snowcat
04/28/06
"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." – US Air Force Manual
Good thing I did not eject from ABAX as the portable blood analyzer yesterday as it bounced right back today – up 11%. That is a good sign and I expect this company to continue to grow.
I bought back into IFO as the audio company has made a nice rebound from a brutal nose
Dive back in January. I have renewed confidence in this one. Even when it swooned, the numbers looked great. I put this one in my IRA.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ifo
I am confident that heating and a/c company, FIX will make it to the IBD 100 once it hit 15. I said that when it was 12. Well look for it tomorrow on the list – the added exposure should help the stock (if it makes it, but I think it will).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=fix
Cramer likes BAC and VLO, big companies with low pe ratios. He is also sweet on AKAM, CNXT AND MSPD fwiw. Cramer's favorite, UNH has been under SEC investigation. Biggest drop I have seen in a healthcare stock. I bet someone wedgies him at his live show over this. But still they watch him on his TV show, Mad Money. I don't. But some people do. Probably when there is a repeat of "Spongebob Squarepants" on the Cartoon Network.
GIGM is still strong and number 1 on the IIC top 10 under $10!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gigm
Don't overlook STKL – Organic foods (remember WFMI), Ethanol (look at PEIX) and a nice chart. What else you want? A rubbbbber biscuit?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=stkl
Others looking nice are TGC, TGB and ASTSF. Check-em-out!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=tgc+tgb+astsf
The weekend looks great in NY and I hope it is a good one in your neck of the woods.
Don't invest without thinking about what you are doing. Snowcat...
05/01/06
"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo." – Infantry Journal
It was hard for me to look unimportant today with so many stocks blasting off!
A newsletter that put GV on the map over a week ago recommended LBIX today. Since it was successful in doing so, my guess is, those same people will be watching the next one. I'm not in it.
4-29-2006 – LBIX- UPDATE – up about 30% today.
http://www.leadingbrandsinc.com/company/investors/newsletter.asp?id=20
ABAX was down 8% today. (Up 8% Fri, down 8% Thurs). Getting too volatile, but I like the stock. If my gain falls to 10%, I will sell.
GIGM smashes thru 9 like butter. The stock was up 16% on huge volume.
CRESY, our South American Agriculture stock, up is up 11% today, and it still looks good!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cresy
I sold ENY, VIMC and CYBS because they were not performing up to my expectations. ENY had volume too low, VIMC was an IPO I never should have bought and CYBS just died in my arms, like Lassie.
Oil stock, TGC took off like a gusher today, up 14%. Again. Still low priced!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tgc
ADM up $1.53, PEIX hits $34 again and JSDA blasts through 9!
FIX made the IBD 100 and held over 15, which is good. Next for the list could be COGO or MED. Check them out. Snowcat
05/03/06
A moment of silence for Louis Rukheiser........................
But the market was not silent as the tensions in Iran caused Ethanol stocks to jump!
ADM (+$1.35) and MGPI (+$2) are giving me some nice gains.
RGUS.ob, the developmental motor stock was up 12% - real yoyo
Today I was torn on keeping stocks like ABAX and FCFS which have not yet met my expectations or selling them and pursuing other ventures. Why?
Well, ERS, which I sold near $20 has been on a rocket ride since April and is up 5 today and now near 60! DXPE which I got bored with at 16 is up $4 today to $52! Oil refiner ALJ which seemed dead in the water at 20, is now over 30! Yow! And I won't even talk about NTRI. Makes my head hurt!
Ok ok.
On the other hand, look at something like NWRE - or NGS, both were doing great then fell like lead. So you have got to take profits while you can and keep your leash short on pullbacks.
CHID.ob, yesterday's buy, was up 30% on 5xadv. That was a find by TA master, EliteG! http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CHID.OB
This is Elite G's report on GV if you missed it. Terrific work which is worth repeating:
GV(amex) - Goldfield Corp.
Sector: Industrial Goods
Industry: Heavy Construction
Mkt Cap: 35.34M
Float: 23.53M
Profile: The Goldfield Corporation provides electrical construction and maintenance services in the energy infrastructure industry in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Its principal lines of business include electrical construction and real estate development. It constructs transmission lines, distribution systems and substations, and other electrical installation services for utility systems, and industrial and specialty projects. The company also installs fiber optic cable for fiber optic cable manufacturers, telecommunication companies, and electric utilities. It also engages in the development of residential condominium projects on the east coast of Central Florida. The company was incorporated in 1906 and is based in Melbourne, Florida.
website: http://www.goldfieldcorp.com/
News and Fundamentals
Goldfield just released amazing results on for its 4th quarter and full year 2005:
Links:
Goldfield Swings to 4Q Profit on Sales
Goldfield Records Strong Results for 2005
----------------
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Goldfield Corporation (Amex: GV - News), a leading provider of electrical construction services in the southeastern United States and a developer of condominiums, today announced strong results for the year ended December 31, 2005:
- Revenue increased 20.4% to $39.3 million from $32.7 million in 2004.
- Operating income increased to $4.0 million from a $0.5 million loss in
2004.
- Net income rose to $2.3 million ($.09 per share) from a $0.4 million
loss ($.01 loss per share) in 2004.
Results for the fourth quarter of 2005 mirrored the markedly improved yearly results. For the quarter ended December 31, 2005 (compared to like period in 2004):
- Revenue increased 85% to $10.4 million from $5.6 million.
- Net income reached $0.9 million ($.03 per share) from a $0.7 million
loss ($.03 loss per share).
-------------
Crazy! GV has more revenue this year than mkt cap and is growing strong. This makes GV an amazing value!! Annualizing the quarter eps gives GV a forward PE of 11.5 not accounting for any growth. There is even more! Growth is backed up by a backlog of over 40million!
Looking ahead to 2006, Mr. Sottile commented, "We start 2006 on a very solid footing. At January 31, our electrical construction backlog had increased over four-fold to $24 million from $5.8 million at the same point in 2005 and our real estate segment's backlog had almost doubled to approximately $16.9 million from $8.4 million at the same point last year. The first phase of our new Pineapple House project is now under construction, with binding sales contracts for approximately two-thirds of the units. We expect to start recognizing revenue from this project during the first quarter of this year."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060327/nym042.html?.v=39
Technicals
A stock with this kind of fundamentals.. and superb technicals. Notice on the Long-term chart what a solid company we are dealing with. How can we tell this from the chart? Notice how there is a consistent rise and support with increasing volume on the 10yr chart. Only really great management can pull that off. Investors who are holding this stock must be in love. (they bought in 1999 @ .20 and the stock is 1.38 ) These are investors who will not sell their position.
Trade Plan
We are buying this stock for both the 3SOF and 3SOV portfolio. Therefore, we will trade the positions in a different manner. The 3SOF method will be a much stricter technical method. The 3SOV method will try to maintain a position until true value is attained through looser stops.
We have a breakout on GV and it will most likely attack the 52-week high soon. We will place our initial stop around 15-20% away and will look to make a great return. This stock is set to explode as soon as the word gets out.. Right now it is definitely a hidden wonder.
Check out the thread for his updates!
And GIGM cut through 10 like a knife through butter. It was up 7% today.
I hope to have some more thoughts tomorrow – maybe something original. Snowy
Thx for the comments snowcat. ;) I hate to interrupt this thread with a reply.. but I must correct you. On CHID Ramsburg was the man and picked it up @ .65 for the 3SOF team. I followed his lead and yesterday had to add to the position big-time because the technicals were screaming!! I have a feeling you made some green on GV too.. >:D Excellent. Carry on!
eliteG -
Your analysis is a work of art - and you hit a home run or two a week. Incredible. You got a big fan here. Anyone who does not follow your commentary is doing themselves a big disservice. Your addition to the A-team makes 3SOF an invaluable tool.
If you started to contribute to the "Joke of the Day" thread, I would have to retire.
Keep up the great work.
Next time I will compliment Ramsburg.
Check out IFO & MED.
Regards
Snowcat.
Quote from: snowcat on May 03, 2006, 11:53:36 PM
Keep up the great work.
Next time I will compliment Ramsburg.
No need ;) CHID was just fruit of brainstorming and team work ;)
My compliments to you, and congrats on this great thread ! (applaud) ;)
05/04/06
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire – Air force saying
BRVO was on fire today. Up 16%! I now have to bring out my old BRVO pumps again. It is up because some bill passed yesterday to remove soda, and sweet sugary soft drinks from schools. Low fat, sugar-free Slammers are the answer. Hopefully they can increase production and keep up with the demand.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BRVO.OB
COGO was on fire! I said that this would be the next candidate for the IBD 100! It had a big breakout today. The only fear is that earnings come out on 5/9/06. Up 8%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cogo
GLBL was on fire! This is another top find by eliteG. The oil service co. came thru with some A+ earnings and jumped 8%!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=glbl
GV – notice how GLBL and GV have the "G" in common. The electrical contractor was up another 8% today. You will not see better numbers on a low priced stock like this!!!!
This can be a major buy for the long term!! Up 10%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gv
The ethanol stocks all dropped about 8%. Even Vince Carter has to take a rest once in a while. XTHN fell below 11 and I sold some.
STRL continued to bounce back with a 5% gain and ERS had a MAJOR pullback, -16% on huge volume. That would be a sign to take a profit if you were lucky enough to have held on this long.
Miners, NTO and TGB were up 5%. Lots of concerns in the world – and some people would rather see their money in hard assets, I guess.
Think about what you are about to do. And stop playing with your hair. Snowcat
05/05/06
Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do. – Unknown Marine Recruit
I had plenty to do today as the DOW had a massive gain and my two honeys, GIGM and GV fell on massive volume.
What to do. What to do. – Well, you know the rules – any drop over 5% on crazy volume and I am out. A 40% gain on GV and a 300% gain on GIGM is worth holding on to. Earnings are out on GIGM on May 11 and I expect them to be great. I plan to get back in. It is just that the stock just fell 10% over the past 2 days and I would rather play it safe.
I have a theory that many investors do not watch the market all day and when they get home today and see these two dropped, they will put in sell orders. We will see.
I have not mentioned my favorite Chinese stock for a while. SBUX continues to amaze with great earnings, aggressive expansion and new ventures, like family movies and breakfast fare. I got in at 32 and it is now near 40. When children graduate from McDonald's, they go to SBUX for $4 coffee shakes. And as Bill Maher says, "The more complicated the order, the bigger the A-hole".
It seems that the ethanol stocks fell yesterday on talk of importing cheaper sugar ethanol. Is this not what got us in trouble with oil in the first place? Corn is expensive, I guess, if you consider they can get $6.50 for a large popcorn at the movies – but what about switch grass? Plenty of that around and the only buyers there are cows! Look closely at STKL and MGPI for switch grass ethanol.
XTHN finally made a bounce. It was up 7%!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=XTHN.OB
BRVO continued to look good hanging on .80.
CHRS is getting closer to the magic number 15. The clothing store for large women has been basing for the past several months.
Miners NTO, TCG and TCG moved well with the market.
One to watch for the weekend: new issue DK. They are an Israeli company that owns many gas stations and convenience stores in the South East US. There is a lot debt, but they are expanding like crazy. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=dk
Today might be a sign of money moving into big caps as is done when people believe the economy is getting stronger. Let us hope they are right. And drink less soda. Snowcat
The real story of Cinqo de Mayo is as follows:
Back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.
The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.
05/08/06
If you see a bomb technician running, follow him. –USAF Ammo Troop
I was following the Ethanol group as it continued up. The whole group: PEIX, XTHN, STKL, ADM & MGPI showed some good gains today. PEIX is nearing 40 which is pretty rich for an earning less stock.
DIL, which makes enzymes that break down biomaterial into ethanol, had a great day, up 11%. The nice chart makes the stock very buyable!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=dil
GIGM bounced back a bit to finish near 10. Earnings should be interesting this Wed. GV continued its slide for the time being.
One thing that amazes me is how quickly stocks that I sell shoot up. Airplane part maker, LDSH was 15 when I last mentioned it – it is now near 40! RATE, the online lender was 5 and is now 50! Even ICE, the Cabot pick that promptly dropped from 71 to 52 has promptly shot up again to almost 80 – all in a month! You cannot sleep on this job.
I am going to try to be a lot more patient on some of these stocks. CHRS and LSI seemed to have bounced back. IFO is on the way. I think buying in small bits and adding as it passes resistance or bounces off a moving average might help avoid any disasters. I have said this b4, and I am getting better at it.
Mr. Market likes airplane part supplier, LDSH.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ldsh
Even with gas prices high, people will still take planes. And have you ever been on a plane that was not crowded? The price of fuel will give the companies reasons to upgrade to new, more efficient models.
He thinks this company is worth another $6. He was right on with WIRE and BBD. He is likely right with this one. You can read his report at www.mrmarketishuge.com . Ernie is trying to help raise funds for a local high school football team. The school is cutting back the program due to budget cuts. He is so confident of this pick, that when you make money on it, he would appreciate you sending a small donation to help the school's football program. I am in.
Tomorrow I will post the whole report. It is a first class analysis.
Remember to watch "24" tonight – we'll discuss it at the water cooler. Snowcat
5/9/06
"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." – Your Buddies
There were lots of things irritating me today. ABAX was down again – my floor on this one is 23. It is a great company that makes portable blood analyzer machines that has not performed well stock-wise. Be patient, right? Well look at the chart of HRT – another great company that looked great and is now selling for corn chips.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HRT&t=1y
MGPI was down on talk that President Bush may lift the tariff on sugar ethanol. STKL was down probably on the article that mentioned that ethanol plays about a 1% role in this food company. PCR, Cabot's stock of the decade, was down 5%. At a closer look, the executive compensation is way excessive and they do not look good earnings-wise.
BRVO.ob was also down 5% while I am discussing things that irritate me and COGO which I think has great promise, fell on a good earnings report
Anything good happen today?
ADM was up $2 to blast through 45, which was good. Also IFO which I loaded the boat on last week was up 19% as their earnings rose. I think that this stock, which was a big winner a few months ago, will be a big winner for us again.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ecn?s=IFO
Other nice gainers today – HANS now has a target of $205 by some analyst, so it shot up. And LBIX and JSDA, I guess followed up on its coat-tail.
Stay positive and diversified. Snowy
05/10/06
Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!
I got rid of ABAX – just way too late. It took a 10% dive this morning that took away all my profits. That is the price of being patient.
Washington said it is unlikely that it will lift tariffs on foreign ethanol. In upstate NY, they are converting an old Miller Brewing plant to produce ethanol. This should soon be popular. How long b4 Bud starts making ethanol?
IFO continued up from yesterday's good earnings news. It was up 7% today on strong volume. I see some good upside to this one.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=IFO
Today I bought some IRIS and COGO on the good earnings reports. COGO bounced back nicely after yesterday's earnings swoon and IRIS was up 23% on good earnings. IRIS, which does urine analysis stuff was at 25 seven months ago, took a major dive to 10ish and may get back on track with this earnings report.
I can see these both as IBD 100 material in time.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=iris
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cogo
CUP up 20% on high copper prices.
Mr. Market really must want donations to help his kid's football team. LDSH was up a buck today. Please look at this report. I am not pumping Mr. Market, but his record speaks for itself. Following his investments will make you a better trader. Enjoy, Snowy
On Friday, May 5, I bought Ladish Co (LDSH) at 38.57. I will sell it in 4 to 6 weeks at 44.74. Please note I will not be sending out a "sell notice" email on LDSH since this is a "bonus" $$$MR. MARKET$$$ pick and was not sent to the entire membership.
Here's why I like LDSH:
Ladish is up about 300% from its 52 week low. It's PE of 29 does not reflect the enormous growth opportunities ahead of it. LDSH sells at a 44% premium to its book value but is cheap compared to its industry and growth prospects. We'll find out why:
Ladsih makes hundreds of different parts for just about everything that flies (with the exception of birds and bugs).
Ladish Co., Inc. engineers, produces and markets high-strength, high-technology forged and cast metal components for a wide variety of load-bearing and fatigue-resisting applications in the jet engine, aerospace and industrial markets. Approximately 89% of the Company's 2005 billings were derived from the sale of jet engine parts, missile components, landing gear, helicopter rotors and other aerospace products. Approximately 27% of the Company's 2005 billings were derived from sales, directly or through prime contractors, under United States government contracts, primarily covering defense equipment. The Company is the second largest supplier of forged and cast metal components to the domestic aerospace industry, with an estimated 20% market share in the jet engine component field.
The Company markets its products primarily to manufacturers of jet engines, commercial business and defense aircraft, helicopters, satellites, heavy-duty off-road vehicles and industrial and marine turbines. The principal markets served by the Company are jet engine, commercial aerospace (defined by Ladish as satellite, rocket and aircraft components other than jet engines) and general industrial products.
Ladish offers one of the most complete ranges of forging, investment casting and precision machining services in the world. Consequently, Ladish is often called upon to forge the largest, most complex aerospace and industrial components for a number of the world's toughest applications. The operation is a pioneer in the application of advanced technology to the forging process and today achieves products with precise and sophisticated mechanical properties.
The Company employs all major forging processes. Much of the Company's business is capital intensive, requiring large and sophisticated forging, casting and heating equipment and extensive facilities for inspection and testing of components after formation. Ladish believes that it has the largest forging hammer and largest ring-roll in the world at its plant in Cudahy, Wisconsin. Much of the domestic forging equipment has been designed and built by Ladish.
The Company's top three customers, Rolls-Royce, United Technologies and General Electric, accounted for approximately 56%, 52% and 52% of the Company's revenues in 2003, 2004 and 2005, respectively. Half of its sales are in the US and the other half is International.
Herman W. Ladish founded the company in 1905 with the acquisition of a 1,500-pound steam hammer and they have been supplying aerospace needs ever since then. Ladish has established links with virtually all of our suppliers and customers for the electronic interchange of data of all types, for example: engineering, accounting, administrative, customer service and marketing information. These established links enable the rapid transfer of critical information to support day-to-day activities, as well as aid continuous improvement activities across all of our operating units, particularly efforts in such areas as cycle time and inventory reduction, and insuring the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of data transactions of all kinds.
The company is divided up into these business units:
• Pacific Cast Technologies (PCT) supplies commercial, military and aerospace OEMs with airframe, launch vehicle, and turbine engine structural components. Specializing in investment cast titanium parts exclusively, PCT has developed a fast, reliable process for manufacturing the industry's most advanced, complex, large-scale, near-net-shape castings.
• Cudahy Forging supplies highly engineered, high-strength forgings to aerospace and general industrial customers. The operation is the second largest forging facility in North America, employing 700 workers. Cudahy Forging ranks high in customer satisfaction with short production cycle times, highest-quality forgings, comprehensive engineering support, quality certifications.
• Ladish Diecast Tooling was founded in 1973. The operation manufacturers shot-end tooling exclusively for aluminum and zinc diecasters. Diecast Tooling is a fully integrated supplier with in-house heat-treat and casehardening facilities. Diecast Tooling serves many of the largest diecasters in the United States, meeting the needs of a customer base that extends from coast to coast.
• Stowe Machine Co., Inc. supplies precision machining services, primarily to the aerospace industry. The company specializes in performing the finish machining operations on large and small complex components.
A nice story to be sure but how does it translate into making this company profitable and, ultimately, making its stock price go up? Fundamental changes in the industry which it serves bode very well for Ladish.
LDSH, on April 25, reported 2006 first quarter sales of $95.0 million in comparison to $65.1 million of sales in the first quarter of 2005. The Company reported net income of $7.632 million, resulting in diluted earnings per share of $0.54 for the first quarter of 2006, versus a net income of $2.658 million or $0.19 per share, in the same period of 2005.
What pushed these results was the gross margin of 18.3%, nearly double the estimates. At year end 2005, LDSH had a record backlog of $450 million (highest in their hundred year history). This backlog was surpassed in the most recent quarter, growing to $503 million (over one year of revenues!). This means that new orders are growing at over 18%. Their second quarter should be equally strong.
How can I be so sure? Just look up (and over).
The South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are expected to experience a 25-30% growth in domestic air passenger traffic in '06, while the growth in international traffic from the four states is likely to be about 20% per annum, as per a recent study by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
This will be much higher than the national growth forecast, pegged at 25% per annum in case of local travel, and around 15% for global traffic out of India.
Frontier Airlines reported a 27 percent surge in passenger traffic in April 2006, as occupancy increased along with capacity. Miles flown by paying passengers hit 707.7 million, up from 557.3 million a year ago.
The number of seats Frontier offered for sale grew 20.1 percent to 877.4 million from 730.4 million a year earlier. The Denver-based carrier also said its planes were nearly 80 percent full, compared with 76 percent during the same month last .
When was the last time you were on a plane? When was the last time that plane wasn't crowded. The industry is underplaned. We need more planes. The growth in the industry that was coming pre-September 11 was pushed back to 5 years later..pushed back and compressed. The reduction in demand 5 years ago was an artificial reduction. The true demand is getting back to normal, and the airlines are way behind. Globally demand is growing 8% per year. That's a lot of new fannies that need seats.
Combine this with the fact that energy costs are spiraling to new highs means that airlines can justify replacing older equipment with newer energy efficient equipment. All of this adds up to more and more demand, and revenue growth, for LDSH. Confirming this is the fact that 2005 was a record year for all commercial aircraft orders.
Also, with the increase in metals and materials costs, LDSH is able to pass these on to their customers (along with their 18% margin). Higher prices mean bigger gross margins. Even though these higher revenues come from inflation, these increased sales allow LDSH to absorb their fixed costs which contributes to greater earnings.
A substantial portion of the Company's revenues is derived from long-term, fixed price contracts with major engine and aircraft manufacturers. These contracts are typically "requirements" contracts under which the purchaser commits to purchase a given portion of its requirements of a particular component from the Company. Actual purchase quantities are typically not determined until shortly before the year in which products are to be delivered.
LDSH's backlog declined by approximately 20% following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Following these terrorist attacks, the commercial aerospace market experienced a significant downturn worldwide. The global commercial aerospace market continued to soften in 2002 and the first half of 2003. The Company's backlog experienced an upward trend in the second half of 2003. New order activity was strong throughout 2004 with the Company receiving $266 million of new orders in 2004 in comparison to $206 million of new orders in 2003. In 2005, the Company received approximately $434 million in new orders as the commercial aerospace market continued to expand. Ladish's backlog is an indicator of growth potential ahead.
What about competition moving in? Tthe significant investment in tooling, the time required and the cost of obtaining the status of a "certified supplier" are barriers to entry. Competition is based on quality (including advanced engineering and manufacturing capability), price and the ability to meet delivery requirements. If you were Boeing, would you trust your plane to the new guy on the block?
An important benefit to Ladish of these new aircraft orders is the performance capabilities of their advanced jet engines which caters to Ladish's product offering.
Ladish is responding to these demand signals. They bought the ZKM forging company in Poland last year and Ladish will use their insight and contacts to expand the mature ZKM business.
Ladish also bought Valley Machining which will help Ladish accommodate the growing demand for machine services.
A recent decision to invest in a new isothermal press is an appropriate response to market demand and will keep Ladish in the forefront of aerospace forging.
So how does this translate into earnings going forward? ANAL-ysts say that Ladish will earn $1.83 in 2006 and $2.28 in 2007. $$$MR. MARKET$$$ thinks that this is kind of ridiculous, considering that LDSH already earned $0.54 in the first quarter and that they will likely earn $0.60 in this quarter. LDSH will earn $2.14/share in 2006 on revenues of $350 million. In 2007, they will earn $2.63/share. If you take their PE of 29 and multiply it by $2.14/share, you get a share price of $62.06 which is well past my sell price.
LDSH's balance sheet is in very good shape, with a LT Debt to Equity ratio of only about 22%, which is well below industry averages. The age of the company has gone a long way to enabling them be able to pay off their property and equipment over the years.
Here's what the boss had to say, this year and last year:
"The 46% sales increase in the first three months of 2006 compared to the first quarter of 2005 is due to the continued improvement of the jet engine and aerospace industries, a full quarter of ZKM sales and the overall strengthening of the economy," says Kerry L. Woody, Ladish's President and CEO. "Due to increased sales volumes, higher prices for by-products and better cost absorption from incremental sales growth along with cost reductions, the Company's operations improved in the first quarter of 2006 as gross margins were 18.3% in contrast to 11.2% in the first quarter of 2005. All of our operating units contributed to the improvement in first quarter 2006 results and were ahead of expectations."
Looking forward to the remainder of 2006, Woody remarked, "Under the current conditions we see the sales opportunity continuing to improve this year and we expect a more balanced product mix going forward, although we expect a decline in missile and rocket component sales from the 2005 level. We had a backlog of $502 million at the end of the first quarter of 2006 in contrast to $332 million at the end of the same period in 2005. The recovery of our industry is clearly under way and we expect it to continue. As our markets expand, our priority will be on responding to our customers' requirements while simultaneously working to improve our internal operating efficiencies, assuring availability of critical raw materials and managing the growth of our working capital."
"2005 was a milestone year for Ladish. It was gratifying that we could celebrate the company's 100th anniversary in a year that featured sustained profitability, record-breaking order activity and sales backlog, and a strategic foreign acquisition," says Kerry L. Woody, Ladish's President and CEO. "Ladish's $266.8 million of sales in 2005 represented a 28% increase over 2004. Correspondingly, 2005 net income of $13.7 million reflected a 265% improvement over the prior year," noted Mr. Woody. "The sales growth we experienced in 2005 is attributed to the expanding international aerospace market along with a robust demand from our industrial customers."
"We are optimistic about the opportunities available to Ladish in 2006. With a contract backlog of over $450 million, Ladish has the ability to continue to improve its performance through the incremental sales growth. During fiscal 2006 Ladish will begin the process of moving ZKM toward the aerospace arena. We also expect to capitalize on the skills and capacity growth provided by the acquisition of Valley Machining," observed Mr. Woody. "With the known and projected growth in the aerospace markets served by Ladish and our participation in key programs such as the Rolls-Royce Trent family of engines and GE's engine programs, we are excited about Ladish's prospects for both the near and long term."
Thanks again for reading about our local benefit for the Princeton High School Football Booster club. I plan on donating a percentage of my profits in my LDSH trade to the Booster Club. If you like this pick, and decide to play it yourself, could you consider doing the same and putting a small percentage of your profits back to this worthwhile cause? Remember, I only sent this pick out to you who responded to me. I offer this whole website as a free service to interested readers.
All of the information you need for your donation is right here:
http://hometown.aol.com/EBarsamian/football+golf+rev2.doc
Thanks
$$$MR. MARKET$$$
www.mrmarketishuge.com
05/11/06
Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons. – General MacArthur
Rough day today, but then again, war is hell. GIGM came through with the best quarterly performance ever! Triple profits! It shot up and calmed down.
Today was a big day where gravity pulled everything back down. MGPI was up almost $5 b4 coming back down to earth – it still finished up 9%. PEIX, IRIS, LDSH also had big reversals.
HANS fell back $16 after coming close to $200, ERS is down, SBUX fell below the 50dma, etc, etc.
Buying opportunities? I do not know. Keep your stops tight.
Miner EZM was up on some good words from Cramer, but other miners, like the popular CUP, was down.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ezm
STRL was sterling on great earnings, up a dollar.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=strl
JSDA broke through 10 with a lot more room to grow. It was up 10%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=JSDA
Have a good night – here is a joke to cheer you up:
It was autumn, and the Indians on the remote reservation asked their
> new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild.
>
> Since he was an Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never been
> taught the old secrets, and when he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared. But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea.
> He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and
> asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"
>
> "It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed," the
> meteorologist at the weather service responded.
>
> So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even
> more wood in order to be prepared.
>
> A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. "Is it
> going to be a very cold winter?"
>
> "Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "It's
> definitely going to be a very cold winter."
>
> The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect
> every scrap of wood they could find.
>
> Two weeks later, he called the National Weather Service again.
>
> "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"
>
> "Absolutely," the man replied. "It's going to be one of the coldest
> winters ever."
>
> "How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.
>
> The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting wood like crazy."
05/12/06
"You, you, and you.....Panic. The rest of you, come with me." – US marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
Traders seemed to be looking for reasons to panic, but others were looking for buying opportunities. Today was no worse than earlier in the week when stocks were flying on mineral and ethanol ecstasy.
Sure GOOG and HANS and DXPE took significant drops, but they ran up fast, dropped, and ran up again. These are stocks and people buy them to sell them at a profit – not collect them like baseball cards. If you are a kid, they are baseball cards. If you are an adult, they are pictures of men. Stocks are not collectibles; they are a means to make money. Financial freedom! In today's IBD, there is an article of how three high school students racked up a "50% gain in 10 weeks selecting names from the IBD 100". Don't tell me these high school kids are smarter than you. They are not smarter than me – and even if they are, I can always stuff them in a gym locker!
If you want to know what stocks went down, you can watch the local news or whine on the Yahoo message boards. Everything just about went down, so if your stocks went down too, don't worry too much.
But did any go up? IFO, my huge holding was up 7%!! Over a dollar!! And I bought MORE!!! It should get a star on the walk of fame this weekend, or at least a top 10 spot in the IBD 100! IFO was also my pick in the monthly Cool Cat Stock Picking Contest. So maybe I'll win a cookie.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ifo
I bought component maker SIMC! Earnings look like they will be a blowout next week and with the low float; I think it will be a winner!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=simc
I bought airplane parts maker HSR to go with LDSH. The numbers are growing. I owned this at 3 and sold it at 5 – it is now near 9 and I think it will be back near 10 soon. Up 9%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hsr
I bought EZM again. This is a profitable mining company that got a boost from Cramer and it pulled back a bit. I think zinc and industrial metals will continue to rise in price.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ezm
I bought NXG – and other Cramer mention has brought this mining company attention. They had a great quarter and were wrongly downgraded! Gold and copper are a great place to be!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nxg
While other traders were hiding under their beds, I got out, kicked the bear in his ass and grabbed the bull by the horns. Take control of your trading. Educate yourself and find out how you can make this your primary source of income. That is MY goal.
On Saturday, May 13, the USPS letter carriers are picking up packaged food you leave out to give to help the food shelters supported by Second Harvest. All the Girl Scout cookies that were purchased from my daughter by readers will be donated in this food drive. So feel good about yourselves. Have a great weekend. Snowcat
05/15/06
Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.
I should be checking my horoscope to see if it is safe to go out. Two of Friday's buys, miners NXG & EZM finished down 12%+. IFO, which made it to #3 on the IBD 100 was up 7% then finished down 9% and SIMC I sold at a 30% profit due to the sharp research of Terabemo!
I will now look up those investing high school kids from Friday's IBD to ask for their help.
RTK was up on a Cramer report that the gas to fuel maker was the way of the future.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=RTK
MED was looking sturdy, CHRS has earnings out on Wed. and TTM got hit bad.
Carbon fiber maker, ZOLT is a very interesting stock. Carbon fiber can be used to build lighter, stronger structures such as bridges and cars. The numbers are looking better, though they are not yet profitable – but this looks like one of the stocks of the future – both production-wise and as a Wall St. favorite.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=zolt
Once again I defer to Bill Gates: "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose".
Thanks Bill.
05/16/06
When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.
Actually, the market pulled up from the dive today. SIMC continued to fly, up 27% on a gillion time's adv. What concerns me is the volume which is just now starting to pick up. Prior to earnings, the adv was about 12,000. If it can continue to trade 300k shares a day, this could be a monster. >:D
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SIMC
HSR regained footing, up 8%. IFO is back on track, up 8% and MED came through with great earnings and was up $2. This diet stock can be on the IBD 100 now that it is selling for over $15!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MED
IRIS, like IFO is coming back from a major dive and good earnings. They are a medical leader in their field, Urology, and made a nice 12% leap today!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=IRIS
JSDA hit a new high, ZOLT zolted ahead, and SBUX is getting out of its funk ::)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=zolt+jsda+sbux.
I am tempted to sell my slow learners, like FCFS and PSSI, but I know that they would shoot up the second I sold them. I am being patient with my recent mining stock purchases, EZM and NXO though I am down about 12% on each in a day (not one of my better moves). And a few stocks I like are just about at my sell point with close to an 8% loss – CHRS, ALKS, COGO, and PCR. I will watch closely as they are good companies, but lousy looking stocks. :'(
One thing I have learned is that if I buy a penny stock, or a "newsletter stock" and it makes any kind of gain – I have to sell it right away. Otherwise I will be a junk collector that ends up holding the bag. For example, look at OTD, BRVO, CHID, PTSC, XTHN, XSNX, NIHK, GNBT.......several I was lucky enough to sell with a quick profit. Others, like CHID, were a 40% gain that I held and is now worth chid. Most of these types of stocks are manipulated, and not by you. The market makers and insiders know when to get out – you should get out before them. I think that most of the time it is the best move to take your profit and go home rather than to leave empty handed.
Good trading - Snowy ::)
05/17/06
Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.
That is how I felt today as I crash landed on a few stocks and bailed on others. I preserved profits on MGPI, ADM and FIX and took bad losses on EZM and CHRS. CHRS, the clothing store for big women had earnings that were not too bad, but it just collapsed. I should have seen the chart falling apart long ago.
I sold ADM. It is still the big boy in the ethanol/agriculture field, but I see support at about 38, and I am not as brazen as I was when I was buying on Friday. I learned a painful lesson.
Not much positive news, though yesterday, the Yankees came back from a 9 run deficit to beat Texas 14 to 13 in the 9th.
IFO rose close to 20, up 7% - IRIS, MED and RTK were up a bit
Here is a link to the top lists in IBD:
http://www.investors.com/tr10/trsuform1.aspx
I am looking forward to better days, but don't worry, I got your back.........Snowy
A favorite joke to make your day better:
The National Poetry Contest had come down to the final two contestants,
a Yale graduate and a redneck from Texas.
They were given a word, then they were allowed two minutes to study the
word and come up with a poem that contained the word. The word that they
were given was "Timbuktu."
First to recite his poem was the Yale graduate. He stepped to the
microphone and said:
Slowly across the desert sand
Trekked a lonely caravan;
Men on camels, two by two
Destination Timbuktu.
The crowd went crazy! No way could the redneck top that, they thought.
The redneck calmly made his way to the microphone and recited:
Me and Tim a huntin' went.
Met three women in a pop up tent.
They was three, and we was two,
So I bucked one, and Timbuktu.
The redneck won hands down!!!!
05/18/06
I learn by going where I have to go. – Theodore Roethke, poet
I have been cleaning house today – trying to preserve any profits I can. TTM got slaughtered on bad earnings. They are also building their $2000 car in a communist country near India. XTHN continued the freefall by ethanol companies. XTHN further validates my theory on newsletter pumps – fast money is made and get out before the big fall. It is down 16% today.
MEA looks like it could be good. But metal recycling is not a hot business at the moment. This company got a good write up in a newsletter which gave it a boost. Big trader Susan took a position in it today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mea
TTM getting slaughtered. Down a buck.
Good thing I got rid of ADM and MGPI yesterday - down a buck.
The day started out good with many stocks up and just finished in a dismal fashion.
SMSI followed up on a Cramer report, IFO was up 2 bucks b4 finishing down a dollar, KRSL was up $3, attracting a lot of attention until selling hit and it finished in the red.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=jsda+HSR+SIMC+IFO+COGO+zolt+krsl+smsi+cell"
MED lost all of yesterday's profits and I am not sure it can maintain 15 through tomorrow. A lot of marginal stocks have been having trouble staying above 15 to keep on the IBD 100. – Look at FIX, INFA, etc.......
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=med
I keep a list of all the stocks I sold, and if the chart warrants it, I will buy it back. Right now I am sitting tight on my money.
I made money before and I can make it again.
In the mean time, I am watching your back. Snow
O5/19/06
Don't wait for your "ship to come in" and feel angry and cheated when it doesn't. Get going with something small – Irene Kassorla, psychologist
Well, my ship did not come in today, but the upturn in the market in the afternoon was nice to see. It was also an opportunity to get rid of some of the slacker stocks that I have been reluctant to dump. And I will be especially careful when replacing them.
IFO was down over a dollar and finished up a bit – a very good sign for that stock. I can see this as a big winner in the coming months. Please put it on your watch list.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=IFO
Another stock which was on shaky ground yesterday was MED. It was hit yesterday by a large insider sale at the end of the day. MED also fell hard in the morning but showed strength at the close – finishing the day over 15 – actually over 16! This should be in the IBD 100 and hopefully get a boost.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=med
DXPE made a nice comeback from a bad drop and HANS had a nice gain so I would suspect that these would still be #1 & #2.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=dxpe
TIE, the top titanium producer announced a massive insider buy – this with the recovering market, pushed it up $4. I picked some up near $33. It is a quality stock at a reasonable price. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tie
Much of the portfolio finished in the green, but I am not totally sold on the recovery. Miners have a big climb back. CWPC made a nice move, and COGO followed through today. XTHN and TTM are still getting beaten to a pulp.
I still did not jump back into the Ethanol stocks yet. Here is an informative article on the subject: http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/060519/tc20060519225336.html?.v=1
It should be a good weekend – I am headed to the Yankees/Mets on Saturday. It is the hottest ticket in NY. It should be a great game as both teams are in first place. I hope you have a great weekend too.
XXOO
Snowy
05/21/06
Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes. – von Goethe
Not much of a change today – the market did not follow through with an up day – and sank brutally again.
I lost $300 on my TIE purchase. I thought the break out Friday might turn into something if the market changed direction, but it fizzled.
I guess puts were the right call. I can buy some puts – that will guarantee a market turnaround.
MED made it to the IBD 100 – it was up 6%
COGO and IFO also were up nearly $1!
I sold the last of my GIGM at about even on a 12% drop and I preserved a 35% gain on my remaining SIMC.
Nothing left to buy – so keep your hands in your pockets until 2 up days.
Maybe Cramer will cheer up his audience today by announcing he has the Bird Flu.
Stay calm, I got your back........Snowy
The close call:
I was happy. My girlfriend and I had been dating for over a year, and so we decided to get married. My parents helped us in every way my friends encouraged me, and my girlfriend? She was a dream! There was only one thing bothering me, very much indeed, and that one thing was her younger sister. My prospective sister-in-law was twenty years of age, wore tight mini skirts and low cut blouses. She would regularly bend down when quite near me and I got many a pleasant view of her underwear. It had to be deliberate. She never did it when she was near anyone else.
One day little sister called and asked me to come over to check the wedding invitations. She was alone when I arrived. She whispered to me that soon I was to be married, and she had feelings and desires for me that she couldn't overcome and didn't really want to overcome. She told me that she wanted to make love to me just once before I got married and committed my life to her sister. I was in total shock and couldn't say a word. She said, "I'm going upstairs to my bedroom, and if you want to go ahead with it just come up and get me."
I was stunned. I was frozen in shock as I watched her go up the stairs. When she reached the top she pulled down her panties and threw them down the stairs at me. I stood there for a moment, then turned and went straight to the front door. I opened the door and stepped out of the house. I walked straight towards my car.
My future father-in-law was standing outside. With tears in his eyes he hugged me and said, "We are very happy that you have passed our little test. We couldn't ask for better man for our daughter. Welcome to the family."
The moral of this story is: always keep your condoms in your car.
dont forget 24 2-hour season finale snow(i got your back ;))
hmm IFO and COGO are looking good.. 8)
thx for reminding me of that joke.. LOL
24 was kind of predictible. But those Chinese - don't forget those Chinese! Next season he will be fighting with Chuck Norris in Shang-Hai! Good thing Baur is a black belt in Kung Fu. He'll kick some Chinese ass, fall in love, avert a nuclear holocost........and in the last minute, call his daughter and tell her he loves her. All in 24 hours without going to the bathroom once.
But how will he get along without Chloe? He will probably find the Asian version of Chloe working in a noodle joint.
Chloe will probably get her own show where all she does is make weird faces.
IFO, COGO, MED, HOM and HSR are my 3SOF. Stay away from those penny stox.
The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
05/23/06
Winning isn't everything. Wanting to win is. – Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Yankee Pitcher
Today was a winning day – stocks were bolting upward like crazy. TIE which I sold yesterday after a 10% drop, gained 12% today. And this was happening with just about every stock I looked at.
But has the market turned the corner and headed back up? Or is this a bear trap – to catch unsuspecting money and then drag it down further. I was tempted, but kept my pants on.
Ethanol stocks were up (MGPI up 12%, but ADM was level)! Mining stocks were up (EZM up 11% but NXG was down)! In fact, everything I sold in the past week was up big. Even stinkers like CHID and OTD were up 13%! XTHN was up 24%!
Why do research when I can just roll in the mud.
Today was a gift. Oil stocks will continue to rise and demand for alternative energy will continue to grow, but stocks and the real world do not always go in the same direction. So let's wait another day until we start taking out our wallets again.
I think the market is waiting to see who wins American Idol – Taylor is good for the economy and Katherine is for pork barrel spending.
I am taking my kids to American Idol Live in July, an investment that I can see paying off for months.
And relax, I got your back. Snowball
LOL.. man thats hilarious. "Chloe will probably get her own show where all she does is make weird faces."
and this is killer "I think the market is waiting to see who wins American Idol – Taylor is good for the economy and Katherine is for pork barrel spending." LMAO
yea 24 was predictable.. I wonder if that navy kid witnessing him kill Henderson will come into play.. I called everything ahead of time[using TA] (how the president was recorded and the chinese at then end) much to my family's displeasure.. lol.. anyway the Chinese direction should be interesting in January.. getting outside the US will be good for the show. ;)
Yeah. The Jack Baur Power Hour! He relied too much on his posse. Too bad they killed off Edgar. He loved Chinese food.
Now - is the next 24 going to start while he is on the boat or when he is in China? Will he be able to learn Chinese in one hour? Will he be able to learn chopsticks in one hour?
The bicycle chases through the streets of Shanghai, running for miles on the Great Wall, thousands of shameless plugs for the Olympics - sounds great.
The one thing I was able to determine from seeing the beaten Jack Baur lying on the floor with his battered face is the time the next 24 episode will start. 2:30
(tooth hurty in Chinese)
Good thing they did not get Chuck Norris to fight the terrorists in "24". He would kick their asses and solve the crime so quickly, they'd have to rename it "1".
05/24/06
Talent wins games. Teamwork wins championships. – Michael Jordan
The winning team today was bird-flu stocks. I knew that if Jim Cramer came out in a chicken costume yesterday, coughing his head off, it would have an impact on the market.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=nvax+bcrx+crxl+qdel+gild+sva+gnbt+apt+calm+avii
The rest of the market fell flat on its face, with yesterday's winners falling back too. Only XTHN seemed to not only keep its gains, it was up another 20%!! The ethanol company that uses bio-trash rather than corn or soy to make ethanol announced that it plans to build a plant in Georgia.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=XTHN.OB
Buying puts is always an option in this market that seems to be doing a freefall, but I would rather sit back and wait for the dust to settle. Indian stocks like TTM and WIT are being hit especially hard as well as gambling site GIGM and favorites like SBUX.
Do not reach for your wallets yet as there is no conformation that this correction is over.
The big showdown tonight on "American Idol" will decide the way I invest. Taylor wins and it is a year of wild fluctuations in the market and if Katherine wins I can see stocks of companies like CHRS (big women's clothing) and KKD (Krispy Kreme) having banner years.
Again, don't worry. I got your back. Snowcat
05/25/06
The roots of education are bitter, the fruits are sweet. – Aristotle, philosopher
Some tempting fruits dangled in front of my face, but I did not bite. The market has been as unsteady as new "American Idol", Taylor's erratic behavior. Be patient.
One great place I found to do some homework is a list of the100 Hot Growth Companies in these weeks Business Week. Click on the company and you will get a handful of great information. Companies I know and some I never heard of.........
http://www.businessweek.com/hot_growth/2006/index.html
I am sounding like a broken record, but IFO was up a dollar. It was #23 on the Business Week list. See you at 30. http://yahoo.businessweek.com/hot_growth/2006/company/23.htm
A lot of companies were up on my watch list, but none with big volume.
HOM is on the watch list again. It finally is pulling back.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hom
MED, IRIS and COGO are GOGOs
ALKS announced that they priced their new sobriety drug. It is 7x what other similar drugs are going for. The stock was up a buck on average volume. The monthly shot is planned to cost about $700, but someone pointed out to me that an alcoholic can spend that in a couple of nights in a bar – not to mention ruin their job, family and health,
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/stocks/pharmaceuticals/10287557.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
Stay informed. Education is the foundation of smart trading – not depending on internet Bozo's like me. I love you – AND – while the market down - I got your back. Snowy
Which of these pictures shows Snowcat: Cat of Mystery??????
http://www.island943.com/images/dragons052106/index.htm
New American Idol, Taylor, reminds me of my drunk uncle dancing and singing at my sister's wedding.
His first official act as Idol is to send his Soul Patrol to Iraq to torture the Al Quaida prisoners.
05/26/26
The further backward you look the further forward you can see. – Churchill
I have been crowing about the future for the past month and it is IFO, MED, COGO AND HSR.
COGO blasted through 15 on strong volume and should get a prominent place on the IBD 100 – giving it added exposure and pushing the price up further. Up about 11% today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cogo
I also see that GV, the sub $2 electrical contracting firm with great earnings seems to have hit its support level and is bouncing back. This is probably a good point to dip your toes into this one, though I would prefer a day with better volume.
Speaking of better volume, one really good company, SIMC had a pullback and then surged ahead on better than normal volume. Up 13% on 2x adv.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=simc
I added this today when Rick brought it to my attention!
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=SIMC&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p88710410366
GIGM is looking buyable again. They had great earnings and are making smart business moves – acquiring the companies they need to succeed and selling what they no longer need! Online gambling and beyond!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GIGM&t=6m
I am staying focused on just a few key stocks. Keep the winners.
Have a great Memorial Day and say a special thanks to the men and women in the armed services defending our country. It is a tough job for low pay and takes more guts than Bill Gates or Warren Buffet will ever have. Thank you. SNOWCAT
05/30/06
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. – Malcome Forbes
IIC Top 10 Under $10 – some good looking stuff from InvestorInformationCenter
GIGM,ARTG,DTLK,SWW,STKL,EGY,SWB,NETC,CBJ,CYB
Little Charts:
http://trimurl.com/5C8
IIC's Killer Watch List:
COGO,GLBL,MTRX,LYV,TOO,SWB,SMSI
Little Charts:
http://trimurl.com/5CO
LQDT was all over IBD weekend issue. They were pumping it in every section of the paper. The chart is amazing, but a new issue. – Up 6%
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=lqdt&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p17591365827
Gun maker, SWB had a nice Bo today, up 6%.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=swb&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p17591365827
HOM falling on insider selling. Very volatile stock!
COGO drops after making it to the IBD 100 - typical reaction. Stand pat!
HSR down 9% on low vol and IFO down 6% on high vol.
GV is holding its own as it rests at support and SIMC continues its run, up 9%!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=simc
But the market was down and these stocks have been up a lot recently bucking the trend – so a pull back is not unexpected. I have high expectations, but I have an itchy sell finger and I am not in love with any of these stocks!
Keep you wallets in you pocket and wait for the market to turn. Three of four stocks follow the market. The others follow the American Idol Tour across America.
Hang in there, I got your back. - Snowy
05/31/06
There is more to life than increasing its speed. – Gandhi
The key elements of the portfolio are gaining real speed:
SIMC is now #3 on IBD stocks under $10, 99 RATING (http://www.investors.com/tr10/trsuform1.aspx)
HOWEVER, THAT RATING IS BASED ON LAST Quarter earnings of .11 they are missing this:
On Monday May 15th, the co reported Q106 revs of
$21.9 mln, up
78% yr/yr, and EPS, of $0.11 vs $ 0.05 last year.
However, if the Litton acquisition had been in for the
whole quarter, Q1 revs would have been $31.5 mln
(154.9% increase) and eps of $0.22 (340% increase),
according to Note 13 of the recently filed 10-Q
(5/15/2006). It is up 12% today.
IFO split. Hmmmmm.
08:30 IFO InfoSonics announces 2 for 1 split (23.47 )
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060531/20060531005360.html?.v=1
You must be an owner of record June 9. I expect it to hit at least 30 b4 the split so it remains on the IBD 100. It sounds silly, but stocks are silly. It was up 12% or almost $3 today. I am up 100% on this one.
PTSC was up 16% today – so I am down 32% instead of 50% on this penny stock. There is a lot of potential here so I am going to hold on, but like most penny stocks, it is volatile.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PTSC.OB
Two oil sands stocks had good days today, UTS.to and SOIGF. I got a flyer in the mail on SOIGF, the usual hype, but it is up. UTS was a Mike Schaeffer pick that has turned out awesome!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=soigf.ob
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=uts.to
Others on the watch list today were old favorites, MEK and PRFT....looking pretty good! http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=prft+mek
Today was good, lets keep the rally going! Snowcat.
I read this in Toby Smith's column. It really touched me:
When I am in line at Starbucks, an airport restaurant or a bar,
and I see a service man or woman in the room, I make sure to pay
for his or her coffee or beer.
It's not a big thing, but let me tell you about how important it
is to our brave, selfless men and women to simply hear a "thank
you" from you and me -- you know, the people whose freedom they
defend.
While in Las Vegas two weeks ago for the Money Show, I was in the
bar at the MGM after a business dinner and I saw a group of men
and women obviously in the service -- the uniforms and haircuts
sure give you a clue.
Unbeknownst to them, I picked up their tab and had the bartender
send over a round of drinks with the message, "From a grateful
nation, we say thanks for your patriotism."
The guys asked who sent the drinks and they came over to chat.
Majors Tim M., Carla L. and Mick O. came over, shook my hand and
had a few tears in their strong, deep-set eyes.
They were there for a wedding of a comrade and then on to a
funeral to bury another -- a cycle of life they have grown much
too accustomed to.
They told me that I would never know how much it means to them to
hear a "thank you" from the citizens they fight for -- and that it
was especially important to hear it that day, given the
circumstances of their trip.
I could not have been more impressed with these young men and
women, and it made me so grateful that my simple gesture had meant
so much to them.
Earlier in the day I had bought a coffee for an Army colonel in
line at the Starbucks at Dulles Airport, and I had a very similar
response -- so it was a great day for me, thanks to a little bit
of thoughtfulness.
06/01/06
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. – Nelson Mandela
One big hill we reached the top of is IFO, hitting 30 today. We are up over 100% on this one and should be looking for a time to take profits. Let us preserve some assets!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=IFO
Ethanol stocks were up and it looks like the market may be recovering. In fact, if I held steady and did not sell last week, most of the quality stocks have bounced back – ADM, MGPI, and LDSH etc. That is why it pays to buy quality and to preserve assets when the market falls.
INFA is getting close to 15 on a nice gain today, but I did not like the so/so volume.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=INFA
I did like the performance of Copper miner, CUP. It fell bad and bounced back to a hod on big volume. I bought shares. This is a positive sign that is typical of strong stocks. It opened at 4.16, fell to 3.82 and finished at about $4.61.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=CUP&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p72207499998
CHRS was up on good vol due to a nice report from Dress Barn and The Limited. If it follows up on good vol, it may be one to watch.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CHRS
I hate to admit it, but I bought that pumper of an oil sands stock, SOIGF.ob yesterday. It was up 13% today. I will keep it until it challenges my 10% profit.
I am a big fan of HOM and GV is one of my larger holdings. Hurricane season is why:
Hurricane Plays: HOM, GV, GLBL, IPII, ABIX, WEL
[BRIEFING.COM -- Robert J. Reid] With hurricane season officially beginning today and with what is expected to be another harsh hurricane season, we wanted to highlight six small cap companies that would benefit from repairs/rebuilding: HOM, GV, GLBL, IPII, ABIX, WEL.
Home Solutions (HOM 10.66 +0.46)
HOM is probably the best known hurricane play as it's a provider of recovery, restoration and rebuilding to areas that are prone to flooding, hurricanes, tornados, fires etc.
Its operations are strategically located in areas prone to natural disasters including California, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The co is profitable and expects to report revenue of $160-165 mln this year, up 138% yr/yr.
The stock has a fairly large float f 29.2 mln shares, but was the biggest mover of all as it rocketed from $1.80 in mid-July to $6.50 by mid-Nov.
Goldfield (GV 1.83 +0.24)
Goldfield installs and maintains electrical transmission lines for electric utilities in the southeastern US.
The financials look pretty good as the co is profitable and Q1 revenue rose 70% yoy to $8.2 mln.
The float is a bit big at 23.1 mln, but it's liquid at 551K avg volume.
The stock doubled from $0.75 to $1.50 when Katrina hit in late August.
Global Industries (GLBL 19.41 unch)
The co provides pipeline construction, platform installation/removal, and diving services to the oil & gas industry.
GLBL is based in Louisiana, where Hurricane Katrina hit.
Results continue to be impressive as Q1 revenue rose 79% yr/yr to $246.3 mln.
The stock is at a new 52-wk high, but still trades at a very reasonable forward p/e of 15.2x, only half its expected EPS growth rate next year of 33%.
The stock was a big mover last yr as it jumped from $9 to $15 in 3 months...
Imperial Industries (IPII 23.18 +0.35)
The co makes building materials such as stucco, plaster and roofing products, as well as gypsum wallboard, roofing and insulation products.
The co has said that the repairs of damaged property last year had a "major" favorable effect on demand.
It's worth noting that the co is based in Pompano Beach, FL and just about all sales are to southeastern states.
The co is profitable and posted revenue growth last year of 31% to $72.3 mln. Also, EPS over the past 3 years has grown from $0.28 in 2003 to $1.02 in 2004 and $1.34 in 2005.
Applying Q1's EPS growth rate (27%) for the full year, this computes to an EPS of $1.71 for a very reasonable p/e of 13.5x.
Recall that last year, the stock jumped nearly 100% (twice!): from early July to early Aug ($16 to $30) and after a pullback, jumped again from $16 to $29 when Katrina came by in late August.
Considering the stock's tiny 2.2 mln share float, we'd keep an eye on this one.
Abatix (ABIX 9.00 -0.20)
The co makes protective clothing and industrial cleanup supplies with distribution centers in Dallas and Houston, where Hurricane Rita hit last year.
The stock has a tiny float of 870K.
Stock was a big mover last summer when it doubled in one day in early Aug from $7 to $14.
Boots & Coots (WEL 1.69 +0.01)
The co provides oilfield services centered on the prevention, emergency response and restoration of blowouts and well fires.
In its Q4 report, the co said "The aftermath of the hurricanes in the Gulf is keeping our teams busy."
Of note, the co's prevention service segment was up 72% in 2005 at $13.9 mln and now represents 47% of sales up from 33% in 2004 and the co is profitable.
Its float has expanded to 29.4 mln, but it was a mover last summer, jumping from $0.80 to $1.60 in 6 weeks.
A lot to swallow, but it goes down smooth with a beer. Snowcatz
06/02/06
Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there' make it happen. – Lee Iacocca
Education, I say it again. Learn from others and learn from your mistakes. Here is a list of some great trading DVD's for under $10 and a slew of top quality trading books for ½ price. http://www.invest-store.com/profittrading/tl050106.html
I am always looking for good traders to steal ideas from.
HOM turned up on the s-list of stocklemon. It may have some validity to it, but anyway, I sold out even.
http://www.stocklemon.com/
Is Home Solutions a Natural Disaster Waiting to Happen?
Stocklemon Reports on (Amex:HOM)
What is Home Solutions?
Home Solutions was a dormant company and had no operations during most of 2002. Between then and the present, they have spent $50 million in cheap stock and expensive debt to acquire 5 small building services companies – $1.5 to $16 million apiece. These 5 companies comprise 100% of the present day HOM, which, in an astounding feat of new math, is now conferred a fully diluted market cap of over $440 million!
PPHM got a big boost today when they announced they have a new drug that fights bird flu, up 27%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pphm
BAMM which I said was likely to make the IBD 100, probably will. The Book seller smashed through 15 on almost 10x average daily volume.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=bamm
AERTA is a building material company picked by eliteG. They are profitable, with a beautiful chart and a low price. Based in AK, they can take advantage of any hurricane damage. Looks good.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=AERTA
NYER is a small NE Drug Chain that Terabeamo likes (I swiped the SIMC trade from Terabeamo, BTW). It is profitable and trades on low volume. Any interest in this stock (like a buy out) can cause this stock to surge.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=NYER
IFO was up another 10% or so to $34 on 5xadv. I won the Cool Cat stock picking contest for May with this one – so I may just retire. I was up over 100% while the next closest was a 19% gain. Big Trader Susan was down 50% with ELSE, and finished last.
MED was also up 10% on great volume
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=med
SIMC was up 17% today thanks to Terabeamo again.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=simc
PTSC was up 34% today. I was down 50% on Monday and now I am in the green.
Stocks are wonderful. This is a penny stock with a lot of contracts and has real potential.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PTSC.OB
Oil sands "stock" SOIGF was up 12% today. This I consider charity money and I will find a good home for it. Finding a good use for your money makes more enjoyable.
Wow. I am one lucky guy – and I am glad I have so many friends to share my good fortune with. But I won't let it get to my head.
Snowy von Snowcat, the Snowyist cat around.
06/05/06
I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time. – Anna Freud, psychologist.
Profit taking on IFO was steep today, but not all that unexpected. The stock was well above the 50 dma and was due for a correction. It may follow the market down or bounce b4 the split. Even ERS took a big dive several times on its way up b4 its big death spiral.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ERS&t=1y
Remember that taking profits along the way up will ensure that you do not go home empty handed.
SIMC +3%, GIGM +9% and HSR +5% were up a bit today and I took profits on SOIGF at around 6 for 20% profit or so.
SIMC was bought by the Coolcat portfolio this morning along with AEHR.
AEHR makes test equipment and tests semi-conductor equipment.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=aehr
On one of the IBD top 10 under $10 lists and the Bollinger list is building material maker AERTA. They are also a selection of 3 Stocks on Fire.
http://www.investors.com/tr10/trsuform1.aspx
Here is another list of IBD top low priced stocks with 3SOF pick, IHR, if you are ready for a vacation.
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/low060506.html
And for the record, let us not forget the
IIC Top 10 Under $10
GIGM ARTG DTLK SWB SWW STKL DSGX NUAN SLP CYB
Lots of winners can be culled from these lists. GROW was on the list a few months ago b4 it soared to over $20!
Remember – It is not how much you make, but how much you take home. Snowcat
06/06/06
You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace. – Ernie Banks, baseball player
It has not been a happy week in Snowcat-land – but after today's drop, it made yesterday's drop look good.
Fortunately our sell rules were followed, right?
1- sell if it drops 15% from its high
2- sell if it drops big, 7%+, on high volume
3- Sell if it is the feature story in Stocklemon.
Both COGO and SIMC met those criteria today too.
IFO and COGO were downgraded by some hacks also.
But COGO also had a buy recommendation. Can't you guys make up your minds?
13:31 COGO Comtech: Would be aggressive buyers on the back of today's selloff driven by competitor downgrade and overall mkt weakness - Jefferies (13.29 -1.34) -Update-
Jefferies would be aggressive buyers of COGO stock on the back of today's selloff driven by a competitor downgrade and overall mkt weakness. They continue to expect margin expansion at COGO in 2006 and 2007 due to expansion into richer margin businesses. A recent Wall St Journal article discussed the positive ripple effect of China-based service providers expanding overseas through acquisitions, and in the process benefiting leading China-based telecom equipment vendors such as ZTE and Huawei as new networks are built or upgraded, which the firm believes could ultimately benefit COGO. COGO is also unique in that they expect the co to be a major beneficiary of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, as they believe both 3G networks and digital television with be implemented in time for the games. In their view, COGO is well positioned to benefit from 3G wins in both the telecom equipment and mobile handset business, which they expect to hear more about over the next year.
Trouble at HOM continued:
oday they address the recently announced contract with ARH:
...This company was established only 5 days before the Home Solutions' Press Release was issued. As of the writing of this report, American Renaissance Homes does not even have a working phone number.
But it gets MUCH BETTER.
After a series of phone calls, we were able to speak with Alan Nazarro, COO of ARH and this is what we found out.
1. Home Solutions of America owns 40% of ARH.
2. The company currently has 0 contracts.
It is the opinion of Stocklemon that this is what we have witnessed: The company needed an announcement about some deal in Louisiana. Therefore, a subsidiary is established without ever publicly disclosing that it is a subsidiary. Then a contract is awarded to Home Solutions from the subsidiary to install homes for which there are no current contracts to install...
http://www.stocklemon.com/06_06_06.html
Be careful out there. Keep a close watch on your money. And if you had a lousy day, remember that there are plenty more great opportunities out there – I found them b4 and I'll find them again. I got your back. Snowcat.
A joke:
A rabbi was opening his mail one morning. Taking a single sheet of paper from an envelope he found written on it only one word: "shmuck." At the next Friday night service, the Rabbi announced, "I have known many people who have written letters and forgot to sign their names, but this week I received a letter from someone who signed his name, and forgot to write a letter."
There is always a solution: A win win situation. Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border, take the dirt and raise the levees in New Orleans, and then put the Florida alligators into the border moat! Use Mexican labor.
what do you think about the ZOMX news today
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=ZOMX
Not sure - the turn in the chart and the volume look promising, but I cannot figure out what this company does - if anything at all. There are no earnings and I do not know what they have to do to have earnings. Their numbers are bad and the have a lot of baggage with an sec investigation and insider trading behind them.
I am not comfortable with the company, but that does not mean you cannot make money with it. The market is bad
hey Snowcat - I need you to get my back. I was short HOM from above $10. Yesterday when HOM crashed I got a lucky partial cover at $4.80. The rest I covered at the close at $6.60. Today Ameritrade sends me email saying "oops the market maker said the $4.80 cover was filled in error" so they reopened my short position. When they sent me that email, HOM was trading at $8.50! That's the most unprofessional thing I've seen from a broker since I started trading. Putting someone back in a short position when the stock is up 30% today?? At the very least if they had reversed the order right away yesterday, I would have covered at $6.60 with the rest of my position. I explained the situation and asked them to compensate me with a couple of months of free trades. Their response:
"Thank you for your email. This was an issue of HOM halting trading several times yesterday. The trade was reverse as it was an erroneous fill. When a stock halts trading there is no way to get a fill. Since there were not share available as the stock was halted, the erroneous trade was corrected."
They didn't even address compensating me for this f*k-up? How would you handle this?
Lucas - Threaten to go to the SEC. That will send shivers through their spine. Mention that there is evidence that they kept the spread. Write the letter by hand on a yellow legal pad and send it to the CEO of the company.
Do not let them go on this one. Keep calling and e-mailing. You can e-mail the CEO too. Just have the documentation to justify your fight.
06/07/06
We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. – Abigail Adams, First lady
Some people jumped in on some buying today, as a lot of "my stocks" rebounded a bit. SIMC had a nice rise on great volume, but pulled back near the end of the day. It was over $12 but ended up at 11 ish – still up a respectable 8% and very buyable.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SIMC
HSR continued its awesome run, up 20%. Airplanes will continue to fly and there is more focus on replacing older fuel inefficient planes. If someone has to get somewhere, they will fly if they have to no matter what the price is. Every plane I go on is full. I can see this stock at 15+! I loaded the boat on this one with my IFO $$.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hsr
Medical company, IRIS was up 7% on low volume. I expect that to pick up.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=iris
It finished near the high of the day.
One I purchased a few days ago when it shot up on big volume is MIKR. They make infrared detection systems which may be used on the Mexican border. The stock is up on strong volume.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MIKR&t=1y
IFO was up 5% on great volume, but it got its second downgrade in two days.
HOM was up 17% on ridiculous volume and an upgrade, but I would be very cautious on this one. Too many questions are arising about the company's projects.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hom
Two stocks to watch are 3SOF picks, ABG and MXWL. Nice charts, great numbers, but no volume today. They will go on the watch list.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=abg+mxwl
I also picked up some ZOLT. They make carbon fiber which is stronger than steel but a lot lighter. It is used in windmills, but will likely be used in construction and autos.
I think that this is good for a 10 pt rise by next year should its financials pick up.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ZOLT&t=1y
I took some more CUP, up 9% on big volume.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cup
Tomorrow I will be taking off. I will be treating myself to see a TV show live in NYC. I bought the tickets in a charity auction. It should be fun.
Keep an eye on the market for me. Snowcat
Lucas
Don't accept their comments at face value. First of all were you notified before the open the following day that the trade had been canceled. At Morgan We had a policy that all cancels had to be notified before the following day's open. All trades settle for confirms prior to the next days open. Your firm knew that trade was canceled and you must ask for a copy of the cancel notification time stamped to your firm. This will give you fire power related to when you should have been notified . Second if they are using intraday halts as an excuse then tell them you want time and quotes for all reopening trades following the halt. Third when you sold the balance of your position your intent was to have a zero position. You are still short only because they sent you an incorrect confirm. You also are in the position for a greater liabilty because you were not notified in a timely manner and entered a following day without knowledge of the cancelation. If they don't give you a price adjustment then I would file a written complaint with their compliance department. Let me tell you that written complaints must be dealt with in a legal manner. Tell them you want in writing the exact details of the entire transaction and claim damages for the difference between your sale of the remaining position and the sale of the canceled shares transaction. They will be forced to have a compliance attorney call you and it goes in their complaint file for Nasdeq and NYSE audits. Don't persue free trades claim damages. Hope this helps.
Mike
Thanks for the advice Snowcat and 1Reilly.
Mike - I was not notified before the open. The email they sent was time-stamped 11:23 EST, almost 2 hours after the open this morning. Also, the HOM trade at $4.80 was listed on my confirm last night. I'll request a price adjustment and file a written complaint with their compliance department if they do not give it to me. :(
Lucas
I just want to be sure about this time stamp issue. The fact that you've got your e-mail from them is one thing. What you want to ask for is the canceled trade notification they got from the clearing house or the executing broker. That is what will cause them real problems.
I think you'll get some satisfaction.
Sorry Snowcat this is your space and I really appreciate and enjoy your updates. Maybe together we have helped Luke.
Mike
06/09/06
The Stanley Cup finals feature the Oilers v. the Hurricanes, which is also a good way to sum up the last year for the Bush Administration. – Janice Hough, comedienne
Yesterday, I went to see "The Daily Show" with John Stewart. It is the most trusted name in fake news. If you are not familiar with the show, he does a parody of the nightly news, making fun of the top stories. He is an equal opportunity offender. Reporting on the day's top story, the death of most wanted terrorist, Zakawi, they did a video montage of him and played the song "So You had a Bad Day". The show is on comedy central at 11pm. He has great facial expressions that crack me up.
Thanks for keeping an eye on the market while I was gone yesterday.
HSR looked like it was headed for the IBD 100, Smashing through $15, but died in the last minute of trading. It looks like some profit taking hit it for now as it ended the day in the hi 13s. Still, it is up about 50% since we found it, like the Magic 8-ball said. (My head is looking more and more like the Magic-8-ball every day). My boat is loaded on this one, but it is due for some consolidation.
Medical company, IRIS, got the blessings of 3 Stocks on Fire. It completed a cup with handle, has great numbers but it has lots of overhead resistance. I like it and own it.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=IRIS&t=1y
MIKR, a company that makes infrared detection systems, which I bought last week was up 5% on big volume. They had great earnings this quarter.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mikr
This might put a smile on your face, BSML
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=BSML&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p72207499998
Bright Smile was up huge on great volume – possibly due to this article in this penny stock letter:
• BriteSmile Inc. (BSML): this is probably the time for investors of BriteSmile, the Walnut Creek, CA based teeth whitening product maker, to smile again since just recently in late May the 50 day moving average has crossed on top over 200 day moving average to form Golden Cross - a bull market signal. Since then the stock has took off from around $1.4 per share to $1.81 per share today, up almost 30% in two weeks. And more for the investors to smile about is that this will not just be a little spark but the beginning of a major rally. The stock rose 6.47% or 11 cents today and should be expected to go higher based on technical chart on strong MACD and KD, both showing buy signal as MACD is on top of signal line and K line is on top of D line. [Strong Buy]
I also bought shares of ARGN, an auto parts maker which has some great numbers, an impressive chart, and a low pe.
The RSI on this stock is very impressive. It blasted off on huge volume – this is what you want to see!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=argn
This weekend, I will be seeing the CARS movie. Have a great weekend. Snowy
06/12/06
A man may learn wisdom even from a foe. – Aristophenes, writer
World Cup soccer is on a lot of minds these days, yet Americans do not have the same passion for it as the rest of the world. The reason could be that in Europe, soccer has become a metaphor for war. Once again England can fight France with David Beckham being Admiral Nelson and the French players being ....well....France.
And Germany, under Bismarck, can try to conquer the world.
In America, we do not need a metaphor for war, because we have the real thing whenever we want it. In fact, frighteningly, in America, war may be a metaphor for sports.
In the stock market today, it was a good day for the bears. I unloaded my HSR early at a profit. I should have done it Friday on the steep pullback, but I was not quick enough.
Remember the rules:
Big drop on high volume? – yes
15% drop from its high? – yes
Featured in Stocklemon? – not yet.
I still like the stock. It is buyout material from maybe a Raytheon or someone as the owners are aging, but let's sit this one out for a minute and let it catch its breath.
Former winner IFO dropped another $7 today – so we know we have to get out quick when the signs point that way. Imagine if I held that one for the split. Yow!!!
It is always good to get into stocks showing big rises in volume – because something might be up. BSML which jumped big of Friday announced that a company made an offer to buy them out at a big premium. BSML turned them down so they must know something good is coming. The stock finished up 20%. It is still under $3. Smile!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=bsml
Everything else was down. Sell in May, go away? I am a two weeks too late for that, but it would have made more sense.
I am keeping watch on hurricane stocks – IPII, ABIX, and especially GV – the low priced, profitable company (with an 11 pe) that puts back the electrical polls when they get knocked down. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gv
Let's try to keep our wallets in our pockets and our stops short until we figure out what is going on.
In the meantime, relax, I got your back. sNOWY
06/13/06
Your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do. – Michael Korda, publishing executive.
Not much pleasure today.
I used to work for a snooty NY financial planning firm. One day they were planning an office trip to Shea Stadium to see the Mets and they wanted me to order 30 t-shirts with the company's logo on it for everyone to wear. Well, 100 cost the same as 30, so we had plenty of extras to hand out to clients. I was told to take the extras home – and I recently found the box of 50 or so new shirts in my basement. I wanted to put them to good use, so on a recent trip to NYC, I brought the shirts to hand out to the homeless on a soup line near Penn Station. The shirts were snatched up quickly. So if you are in NYC this Summer and see a person wearing a navy blue t-shirt with a financial service company logo on it, it is either one that I handed out, or one of my former firm's clients.
Today Cramer's giving away a free autographed "Booya bull" with a subscription to his money losing newsletter.
In today's letter he reports that:
There is always a bull market somewhere - unfortunately today it is in the shorts.
And that there is a bull market in squeezles, a rodent type animal, in Pau Tuk, South Vietnam.
It would be great if Jim Cramer could Cram one of those little red autographed bulls up his nose? And then during the show, when someone mentions UHN during the lightning round, he can stick his nose in the air and snot-rocket out a big Texas Booya to Butch in Arlington as the bull does a triple lutz in the air.
I would be willing to catch that at 6, 9, and 12!
And as the waiter said to the group of old yentas sitting at the table of a Miami Beach restaurant, "Excuse me, ladies, is anything alright?"
Well UTK had a nice day, but little volume. This company goes to Universities and buys up great research and markets it. One to keep an eye on.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=UTK&t=1y
And of course, who can sneeze at a 19% dividend. Naturally wait for a better market, but high interest lender, NFI, is always an attractive alternative to flushing your money down the sewer. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nfi
CUP up 8% if you believe in copper. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cup
Bottom line is the market looks like it is in for a rough summer. Even the top stocks were taking a beating today. I can imagine some poor guy who went on vacation on June 1, came back today and thought IFO split early – not lost half its value in a crummy market.
You should be mostly in cash now – definitely not on margin – maybe in some puts if you feel comfortable. It is ok to sit a set out when the conditions look bad. But I will keep my eyes open for you and be cool, I've got your back. Snowy
Great post Snowy
Thanx for the humor and levity as we all need it during a week/month like this. You sound like you have been in touch with the market far longer than i have (trading for a year now) so i ask your advice on one particular point that you made...
" You should be mostly in cash now – definitely not on margin – maybe in some puts if you feel comfortable."
I was doing well in my trading account the 1st 4 months, up almost 20% but after the recent draw downs i am holding some big decliners and my unrealized losses are eating into principle for the first time since December! I am only holding 2% cash and am frustrated with myself for letting it get this far down and not being able to take advantage of all of the "Sale" prices...
Thoughts on when this will turn around? Should i accept a few 40% losses, sell now and hold cash until it turns and then look to start earning again? I have had a few small successful shorts but they hardly help.
Thanks for your thread, I enjoy it.
Cheers Joe
Hey Snowcat,
I second that "great post". Even when the market is in such turmoil I look forward to reading your posts. Very entertaining. Thanks for the info!!! and laughs.
Marte
Joet -
You are closing the door after the horse is gone.
Quality stocks will bounce, so look at what you have and decide if it is quality, you may want to keep it. If it was speculative crap that you probably should not have bought in the first place, or bought because someone just mentioned it and it sounded good at the time, you may want to dump it and start with a clean slate.
Some good rules -
Sell in May and go away (look at how the market tanked in June. This happens EVERY year)
Sell if the stock drops 15% from its high (it will likely continue to fall)
Sell if it drops big on big volume (someone richer than me is dumping shares for a reason)
Sell if the stock is the feature story in Stocklemon (a good sign of a bad sign)
Do not lose money. If I am up big, and the stock starts falling, I would rather walk away with a 10% gain than a potential loss. I can always buy it back.
Look at IFO. I sold on a big vol drop, bought it back and sold again on a big vol drop from 34 to 30. Doubled my $$!!
If you do not have money in your pocket by the end of the day, YOU LOST.
Losing is for losers. You would be better off having a crappy job and not being in the market. This is your opportunity to break free and make money. If you want to gamble, check out the GIGM site for on line Mahh-Jongg.
Read William O'Neill's book, "How to make money in stocks" and get a sample subscription to Investors Business Daily. My best stocks have come from there.
In a year, I will retire and want to read your comments.
06/14/06
A man who never trusts himself never trusts anyone – Paul de Gondi – statesman
I am getting a sample subscription to the Dow Theory Forecast. It seems that every stock they like is in excess of $50. That is good, I guess, but it reminds me of the time I was in High School interning at a highbrow investment bank. I was talking to one of the bankers about my looking to get my first car. He looked at me seriously and said "My Mercedes Benz SL 500 is great – I LOVE IT! And very dependable! You would like it. But the Jaguar is not for you. It is an older man's car – and spends a lot of time in the shop.........."
The point is get advice from people on the same wavelength as you.
For the past two weeks, I have still seen buy recommendations from many financial gurus and newsletters – no "catch your breath", "sell your losers" or "buy some puts"......but buy, buy, buy.
I know there is some great stuff out there at bargain prices –CIB, SBUX, LDSH etc... that may have gotten caught up in the selling spree, but there were very few good stocks up on good volume today. Many hit highs of the day on good volume and pulled back – a sign of manipulation. Some were up on low volume and a few had genuine nice days – the problem again is that most stocks follow the market's trend and it has been down.
Diet company MED had a great day on 2x adv, up 5%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=med
Carbon fiber maker, ZOLT rebounded on good volume after a dismal week +8%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=zolt
UTK, mentioned yesterday was up 7% on its normal low volume. This could fly on a high-volume trading day
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=utk
IFO made a good try at a comeback on high volume, but pulled back.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=IFO&t=1y
And still doing nicely is building materials company, AERTA, which can benefit from the bad weather in FL. The company has great earnings and great potential.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AERTA&t=1y
Not much for the highlight reels is what I am trying to say.
If you must play the market, do it with your lunch money. Most of you can lose a few pounds anyway. But either way, I got your back. Snowy
Joke for a down market day:
This could happen to you.
I was barely sitting down when I heard a voice from the other stall saying:
"Hi, how are you?"
I'm not the type to start a conversation in the restroom but I don't know what got into me, so I answered, somewhat embarrassed,
"Doing' just fine!"!
and the other person says:
"So what are you up to?"
What kind of question is that? At that point, I'm thinking this is too bizarre so I say:
"Uhhh, I'm like you, just traveling!"
At this point I am just trying to get out as fast as I can when I hear another question.
"Can I come over?"
Ok, this question is just too weird for me but I figured I could just be polite and end the conversation. I tell them,
"No........I'm a little busy right now!!!"
Then I hear the person say nervously...
"Listen, I'll have to call you back. There's an idiot in the other stall who keeps answering all my questions
06/15/06
Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing. – Denis Waitley, motivational speaker.
Today I was motivated by the nice gains on big volume, but I was not ready to test the depth of the water with both feet yet.
Metals were strong today with nice gains on TGB TGC, BOOM, TIE and ERS. I put some of my lunch money in ERS as this is the first sign this once high flying stock has had of a decent volume gain day in a while. ERS still has top numbers; it just fell out of favor with the market. When there is a big market correction like we had last week, it is generally a sign that there will be some new leaders emerging in the next upturn.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=tie+boom+cup+ers+
MED showed strength for the second day in a row and the chart still is in an uptrend. Diet stocks get a lot of attention as the beach weather approaches.
Strong volume and it finished near the high of the day. I bought some more.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=med
HSR finished also near the hod on 2x adv. This one took a dive last week, but I still think the airplane parts supplier is a $15 stock.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hsr
GV was up 8% on low volume, this is my favorite play as a hurricane stock.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GV
HOM was up strong on the announcement that they will soon be listed on the NAZ – be careful of this one. There are a lot of questions about the legitimacy of their business and earnings.
There were a lot of reversals to the upside today, NXG, EZM, TTM, FIX, CWPC.ob, RTK, GIGM. But be patient. I would like to see another follow through day like today b4 I get serious about buying.
UTK had another massive day.......volume is picking up daily and I can see this gaining some real steam. I picked some up yesterday and a little more today. I think this one has potential for making us back some of the money we lost last week.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=utk
Here is a site that sells some cute stock trader t-shirts. You can also submit your own and win a t-shirt of your own. I suggested one with a bull and bear in a naughty position.
http://www.trader-tees.com/
There is plenty of great free and low cost stock trading education courses right under your nose. Do yourself a favor and check them out. Many are easy to understand and will open your eyes to making some money in this tricky market.
http://www.profittrading.com/commodity-trading-education.htm
And again, wait another day for the market to show some signs of recovery and be very picky with what you put in your portfolio. Either way, I got your back. Snowy
Snowy,
Your thread is an absolute treat. I thoroughly enjoy your insights, and your humor. Thank you for both, particulary the humor, at a time when we've all need it. Applause.
Thanks Melf-
Big Fan, big fan.
I slowly plan to take over 3SOF as everyone slowly leaves to set up their own site.
Between me & you, check out CIB. The Columbian Bank has had massive earnings since Juan Valdez moved his interest from coffee to drugs. It just happened to be reported after a nice run and last week's market collapse. The stock was down about 10 points!!!
Keep an eye on it.
And buy a great investment book for as much as 90% off. The O'Neill book, "The Successful Investor" is about $5! Brand New! Hundreds to choose from.
http://www.invest-store.com/profittrading/tl060106.html
If I can teach one person to trade successfully, or $10 million, my life would be complete.
Snowy.
I like CIB too. I used to buy it when it was at 8 US. It's the most important bank in Colombia.
Important like coffee and a lot of beautiful things that has my country. It's very sad that always when someone thinks about Colombia thinks in drugs :(. Our government is fighting hardly against that. But there is a big problem: a lot of consumers here and everywhere.
I know there are so many persons who don't know anything about Colombia. However I want to invite them to visit this link, perhaps it could help to change an image of a wonderful country: http://www.colombialink.com/videos/colombia/colombia_es_pasion.html
;)
Quote from: snowcat on June 15, 2006, 11:48:45 PM
I slowly plan to take over 3SOF as everyone slowly leaves to set up their own site.
Snowy,
You haven't visited my site, "Melf's Money Mortuary?" ???
You should stop by. We provide a lovely service when your cash goes to "Money Heaven," based on our recommendations. Flowers, and everything. We'll even hold your hand and cry with you, if you want it. It's included! Anything to make you happy.
Where's that crying face on the toolbar? Oh, there it is! :'( :'( :'(
See? Sincere, wasn't it?
Melf's Money Mortuary Motto: "We treat your money right...right down to its
last rites!"
Quote
Between me & you, check out CIB.
I will. Thanks. ;)
Nica -
Invite us down to Columbia sounds great - I guess they just gotta work on their public image.
How about: " Columbia, we are not just coffee and druglords anymore!"
Melf-
I see several 3SOF picks that are ready for a proper Christian Burial.
The metals have fallen again, except for CUP. UTK is getting creamed after an early morning jump and all else blows chunks and gives change.
NVAX is up on a possible bird flu death.
I've been in CIB in the past but don't think it would be a good buy
just now.
Take a good look at the last two years trend and all other indicators.
jorgegr
Right now, nothing is a good buy - but when the market recovers, CIB is a leading bank in a growing economy. It has a unique situation and there is great potential there.
But you are right, I would not buy it or much of anything right now.
I am searching for top quality companies that have been beaten down.
06/16/06
It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish – J.R.R. Tolkien, writer
The rally from yesterday did not continue and most of the gains from yesterday are gone with the wind – and then some.
I lost most of my lunch money (100 shares of ERS down 7%), but nothing to ruin my weekend or appetite. My holdings are slim and light.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=simc+gv+utk+brvo.ob+cup+ers+mea+mps+cib+hsr+med
CUP, the copper miner was up on good volume, bucking the down trend.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cup
NVAX was up on reports of a possible bird-flu fatality.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nvax
The market still needs some time to itself. Let's leave it alone for a few days to get it together.
Have a happy Father's Day. Two of my favorite movies to see this weekend which are available on video are "Big Fish" and "Family Man".
"Big Fish" is a movie that brings back many memories of my father – a funny and amazing movie that will touch your heart.
"Family Man" – helps me think about my role as a father and makes me see that despite all the hardships of fatherhood – the rewards are great.
Snowcat
Snowyn
Thanx for the response andsolid ground rules, I will incorporate them. Looking at the 5yr chart of the .DJI there is something to the "June demise"... so is this shorting season for you? Have you ever bought one of the short funds this time of year
My new question for you is how do you decide the quality from the speculative??? It seems that there are oodles of quality bio-pharms that are speculated to crazy prices. Do you ever see quality in companies that have yet to turn a profit?
So where do you see HOM? Stocklemon did their thing to that one?
GNBT and NVAX seem to be quality companies with products but have been hyped on the bird flew!
I will look for that book and keep reading your great posts. I will try to be more disciplined with my stop sell orders. (and a tidbit for you, I feel that NMKT is quality for the price with profit!!)
cheers Joe
Joet-
"Quality" companies are all based on my biased opinion. And I am wrong many times. I like companies with earnings, cash, low debt etc....
But a good company does not necessarily make a good stock.
I generally let IBD dictate what a quality stock is due to its ratings. They are not perfect and are based on past performance, but I am too lazy to set my own criteria and theirs is widly accepted.
I rarely buy puts because I am awful at it.
I would stay away from HOM - it is a traders' stock. I am sure there is money to be made somewhere there, but I would rather not be a bagholder.
NVAX may have some potential because they have existing products in the pipeline, but it is risky. GNBT carries a lot of baggage. If you look into the stock, there are questions if they have a true product or are just hopping on the bird flu train.
MIKR, AEHR and CUP are 3 companies that had a good Friday and look like they have something going on.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=mikr+aehr+cup
NMHK.ob is a penny stock and is not for me
later
snowcat..
would like to hear from you on SWB (the gun maker).
PEG is 0.50, upped next year revenue and earnings guidance..earnings released on thursday AH was a blowout.
have a good fathers day! :)
SWB is very strong in this weak market. It may be due for a correction - but it has a great chart and excellent numbers. Thanks for bringing it up.
I could see support at about 7.50.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SWB&t=3m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
From the street:
Smith & Wesson (SWB:Amex - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) saw its shares rise after the Springfield, Mass., gunmaker topped Wall Street's fourth-quarter expectations.
For the quarter ended April 30, the company earned $4.2 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with $1.8 million, or 5 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue increased 44% to $51.9 million. Analysts were looking for a profit of 8 cents a share on $43.3 million in revenue.
For the full year, the company earned $8.7 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with $5.2 million, or 14 cents a share, last year. Sales increased 27% to $157.9 million.
Looking ahead, Smith & Wesson raised its sales expectations for fiscal 2007 to between $180 million and $186 million, a 14% to 18% increase. The company forecast earnings of 30 cents to 32 cents a share. The consensus estimates call for earnings of 31 cents a share on $181.6 million in revenue.
Everyone loves guns! (except the people and animals killed or hurt by them and the people afraid of them)
06/19/06
GOVERNMENT IS THE GREAT FICTION, THROUGH WHICH EVERYBODY ENDEAVORS TO LIVE AT THE EXPENSE OF EVERYBODY ELSE. – Frederic Bastiat, French Economist
Same old, same old stock market. No one was hurt because no one is buying and our portfolios are skeletons of what they once were.
Three in the portfolio are holding up pretty well:
Diet company MED is up 10% on good volume.
Infrared detection company, MIKR, is up 9% on strong volume. This may be useful in helping maintain our border security.
Airplane parts maker, HSR and UTK also had slight gains on a rough day.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=utk+med+hsr+mikr
If you are playing the market now, use only your coffee money. Your portfolio should be positioned so any further downturns won't ruin your day. We will get through this together and it will make us better traders. Eugene
Subject:Italian Mother
>
>
> A young Italian man from New Jersey excitedly tells his mother he's
> fallen
> in love and that he is going to get married. He says, "Just for fun,
> Ma,
> I'm going to bring over 3 women and you try and guess which one I'm
> going to marry." The mother agrees.
> The next day, he brings three beautiful women into the house and sits
> them down on the couch and they chat for a while. He then says, "Okay,
> Ma, guess which one I'm going to marry."
> She immediately replies, "The one on the right."
> "That's amazing, Ma. You're right. How did you know?"
> The Italian mother replies, "I don't like her."
06/20/06
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
The Dow was up a bit on housing data but did not make me want to go out and shop. I am waiting for the bargain basement to open – and that might not be for a while. And what I have in storage is just sitting there waiting for the right opportunity (or any opportunity) to sell.
I had a friend who had a store that sold comic books and baseball cards. He had some great looking old comic books on the wall, but they were priced way over market value. Those comic books were up there for years. He in a sense was not a comic dealer, but a comic museum. You have to turn over your inventory with the goal of making money, if you do not; you become a collector, not a trader. You know the type who is still hanging onto 10,000 shares of LU waiting for it to go back to $100.
Before you buy a stock, have in mind what you will sell it for – on both the upside and the downside. Where will you bail out? When the stock drops 15% drops off its high? When the stock drops 2 boxes below the 10 day moving average? When you are rich? Have some realistic expectations in mind and do not believe in everyone's projections.
Run your stock portfolio like a business where you HAVE to make money and you will be more diligent and more successful.
Today, XTHL.ob moved to the Amex as XNL. This is an ethanol producer that claims to be able to make the fuel from any organic substance – candy, wood chips, doggie doo, anything but Twinkies (Twinkies contain no organic matter). I like this company and ethanol stocks were up on higher oil prices. XNL was up 13% on good volume.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xnl
But today, what is up 13% one day can easily be down the next – look at MIKR, UTK etc....
Here is an interesting report on my favorite hurricane stock, GV which I have a special place for in the Snowcat museum.
http://www.knobias.com/individual/public/news.htm?eid=3.1.bc6fd49473077908fe1378d4226f6e851a44cd9673fe9bcb6a68caca9a90fda8
Your reports are for collection LOL
Today's analysis and thoughts are a masterpiece ;D ;D :D :D
Thank you for your good temper extended to all the board (applaud)
jorgegr
Quote from: jorgegr on June 20, 2006, 08:27:57 PM
Your reports are for collection LOL
Today's analysis and thoughts are a masterpiece ;D ;D :D :D
Thank you for your good temper extended to all the board (applaud)
jorgegr
I second that. Applause. ;D
The year will be collected in the "Snowcat Year End Super Spectacular". It will have a glossy cover and pictures of my car. I will skillfully edit out all of my trading errors. It will cost $3.
I got a good DVD yesterday - if you like martial arts/superhero movies. Silver Hawk starring the chick from Crouching Tiger - Hidden Dragon. She plays a super hero, like Batman. Not totally stupid with some good kung-fu action.
Some of my other favorites are "Hero" with Jet Li and "The One" with Jet Li.
If you liked "Braveheart" you will like "Hero"
Other stuff will appear in the "Snowcat's Hot Martial Arts Update" thread
On the "3 Karate Chops on Fire" site.
06/21/06
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. – Douglas Casey
Speaking of transferring money into the pockets of the needy, The Snowcat portfolio had a banner day today, thin as it is.
Airplane parts maker, HSR soared 15% to close near 15. This time I hope it can hold – it would make the top 10 on the IBD 100. It was pumped to over 15 a few weeks ago then dragged down unmercifully. We will see what the plans are for this one. I added more.
"But Eugene, the PE is almost 100! And it is near its high!" There are big expectations for this company – and I would not be surprised to see the price catch up as it did with HANS and TASR.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hsr
MED, the diet company, looked fat today, up 14%. It has been like a salmon this past week swimming against the current and up waterfalls. This is a strong stock. REMEMBER NTRI, now selling in the 50's. Also, do not be afraid of a high PE. I have been adding bits here and there all week.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=med
Infrared company, MIKR also rode the market, up 8%. I like this one.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mikr
In fact, most good stocks were up. "When the wind blows, even the turkey's fly".
XNL had a good ethanol day again, riding the momo wave, up 6%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xnl
I bought a new issue which has been on my mind for a while (just lunch money, mind you). If you remember ALN, the oil refiner that owns many 7-11's down south that did well, you might be interested in Israeli company, DK. DK also has tons of gas stations and convenience stores in the south east US and they are growing like wildfire AND very profitable. You want a LOW PE, this one is 7 and the forward pe is 10!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=dk
CUP rose to enter the upward trend, this is a good sign. The company is a big producer of copper.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CUP&t=6m
It is good to write some good news for a change. Tomorrow I may have to console you again. This can always be a sucker's rally, so be cautious and careful. I would like to see a follow-up day tomorrow with good gains on good volume b4 I start whipping out my checkbook. Snowcat
What commission would you pay on sales and distribution rights for
say...two year exclusivity on certain world regions and weekly
updates of the "Snowcat Year End Super Spectacular"??
I think you should edit a DVD and e-mail versions, making some
publicity in 3SOF, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet showing
a snowcat. ;)
FYI yesterday got in CUP again (didnt have the guts to do it earlier)
and fortunately sold XING at 11.36 but looked today to buy again
Maybe tomorrow will see if it can hold at $9.50 or not
Ugly surprise with IVHG today, thought it would break 0.04 and run
upto 0.045 but their conference did'nt propel the PPS.
Brgds
jorgegr
Here is some good info on PE ratios - What is better, big or small?
Stock Trading Education
Why Growth Stocks Usually Are Best
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY - investors.com
Broadly speaking, there are two types of investors: growth-stock
investors and value investors. Often these two methods are pitted against
each other, with each represented as the best way to invest.
Q: What is the difference between growth and value investing?
O'Neil: Growth stock investors seek companies that show consistent
earnings and sales growth, usually 20% or more each year for the past three
or five years.
Companies such as Schering-Plough, Paychex, Cisco Systems and Microsoft
were growth stocks in the 1990s. The price-to-earnings ratios of growth
stocks are generally higher than those of the average stock, simply
because they have a record of better-than-normal earnings growth.
Typically, growth stocks have a high quality, repeat-type product or
service that generates superior profit margins and a return on equity of
at least 17% to 50%. In addition, consensus earnings estimates for
these stocks for the following year or two are also up a significant
amount.
Value investors, on the other hand, search for stocks they believe are
undervalued. These investors evaluate a company's balance sheet and
profit-and-loss statement, looking for signs of hidden value -- such as an
unusually large amount of cash in the company or property carried on
the books at cost, which is below the current market value, etc.
They are looking for a bargain and like to buy stocks with a low P-E
ratio or a low price-to-book value.
They look to buy a business franchise at a low price. Value investors
have to wait for the market to hopefully recognize their stock's value
for it to go up in price. This usually takes a longer amount of time,
and sometimes it doesn't happen at all.
Q: Buying stocks with low P-E ratios seems to be a common practice.
Aren't bargains good?
O'Neil: In general, the stock market is a free-auction marketplace
where most stocks sell at about the price they're actually worth at the
time. In other words, a stock with a P-E ratio of 10 is worth 10 times its
earnings, and a stock with a P-E ratio of 35 is worth 35 times its
earnings.
If and when the price or P-E ratio moves up or down, it is caused by
continued improvement or deterioration in earnings reports.
So it's really improper to say a stock is a bargain because its P-E is
low, and conversely it's improper to say a stock with a high P-E is
overpriced. You can't buy a Mercedes for a Chevrolet's price, nor can you
get Barry Bonds, baseball's home-run king, for the salary of a .200
hitter.
The moral: You get what you pay for. The best company in an industry
almost always sells at a much higher P-E than the also-rans in the group.
We built models of all the outstanding stocks during the 1990s --
stocks like Amgen, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, America Online, Ascend, EMC and
PeopleSoft. At the very beginning of their 500% to 1,000% advances,
their P-Es averaged 31 times earnings. And most of these leaders, on
average, expanded their P-Es to the low 70s as they had their huge price
increases.
A value investor would have missed every one of these absolutely
outstanding companies during their period of greatest performance. P-Es, in
my view, are misused, misunderstood and overstated as a stock selection
tool. Growth in earnings and sales is the fundamental cause behind
almost all price advances.
If you choose to invest in individual stocks and you're not a
professional investor, I firmly believe it is better for you to avoid the value
approach and learn to invest in the very best growth companies. Buy
corporations that lead their particular industries in sales, earnings,
profit margins, and return on equity. Buy companies that are gaining
market share on their competitors.
Q: Why growth stocks?
O'Neil: In all my years in the business, and knowing thousands of
investors, I have never known a nonprofessional who produced really
outstanding results using the value method. I know there have to be a few
people out there; I've just never met them. However, I do know dozens of
outstanding growth investors who have averaged 25% to 50% or more a year.
Now a money manager for William O'Neil & Co., Lee Freestone was up 271%
in 1998 and up over 100% for the first half of 1999. In 1991, at the
age of 25, he entered the U.S. Investing Championship with his own
personal account (real money, not play money) and was up 279%.
Of course, results like this come from dedicated people who really work
at it to get their exceptional returns. But it's nice to know what is
possible if you are willing to spend the time and really work at it.
While it's easy to cite isolated examples of value success, most people
are not Warren Buffett. People do not have his resources to thoroughly
dissect a company's financial condition and properly evaluate a
company's business franchise.
Q: What about mutual funds?
O'Neil: If you are a mutual fund investor, you can buy either a growth
fund or a value fund.
In the long run, as far as funds are concerned, it won't make much
difference, because the performance records are about the same. I've
analyzed funds for over 30 years and have found this to be true.
The value folks claim better performance based on the value record
since January 1973. It looks better because value funds are less volatile
and go down less in a bear market.
By beginning such a comparison at the start of the bear market in
1973-1974, value funds would naturally look better. However, if you start
the same comparison at the beginning of the bull market, say in 1975,
growth funds outperform value funds. Growth funds do better in up markets.
Some people prefer to own both a growth fund and a value fund in order
to feel more secure. Actually, I believe quality growth funds have
performed slightly better. It may be just as important to decide between a
large-cap growth fund (which owns big companies) and a small-cap growth
fund (whose stocks are less seasoned, more volatile and entail greater
risk).
The real key is to own a sound domestic growth stock fund (not an
industry or international fund). You should keep it forever. The real money
in funds is made through compounding -- letting the money build on
itself -- not by jumping in and out of funds trying to time market
conditions.
=============================================
Trader's Bookstore
http://www.invest-store.com/profittrading/currentspecial.html
Recommended books
"How to Make Money in Stocks." by William O'neil
Bernard Baruch's autobiography, "My Own Story."
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator - The #1 All Time Classic
Item # : 2297969
The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes
Item # : 2121
12 Habitudes of Highly Successful Traders
Item # :17358
The Investor's Quotient:
Item # :11481
Techniques for Precisely Timing Major Market Moves
Item # : 3377588
=================================
Quote from: snowcat on June 21, 2006, 04:50:45 PM
MED, the diet company, looked fat today, up 14%. It has been like a salmon this past week swimming against the current and up waterfalls. This is a strong stock. REMEMBER NTRI, now selling in the 50's. Also, do not be afraid of a high PE. I have been adding bits here and there all week.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=med
hey Snowy - StockLemon has MED on its radar now. I just went short. http://www.stocklemon.com/06_22_06.html
MED featured in Stocklemon - time to bail
June 22, 2006
Stocklemon Reports on Medifast
The Real "Skinny" on Medifast (AMEX:MED)
Medifast has become a darling of the market over the past 6 month, but it seems like investors should be looking beyond the headlines and get the real "skinny" on Medifast. It is the opinion of Stocklemon, that Medifast has become grossly overvalued as they have not returned as much money to shareholders as they have to insiders. Valuation On Monday of this week, Nestle announced their purchase of Jenny Craig for $600 million.
:'(
Hey, Lucas, you raked it in today !!!!! What price you shorted and covered ??
Lucas -
You are one fast cat. Good trading. I only had 400 shares (coffee money) and with yesterday's buy clipped a big gain into barely a profit.
I feel sorry for the poor guy who had a morning meeting and now wants to kick my ass.
This is the Stock Market. And Stuff happens.
I shorted at 18.62. Haven't covered yet. Thinking down near the 50 dma (~$14.67) would be a good place to cover, as that is also right around the mid-June low of $14.65.
06/22/06
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw
The market was back in the downside today and made especially bad by the appearance of MED on Stocklemon.
June 22, 2006
Stocklemon Reports on Medifast
The Real "Skinny" on Medifast (AMEX:MED)
Medifast has become a darling of the market over the past 6 month, but it seems like investors should be looking beyond the headlines and get the real "skinny" on Medifast. It is the opinion of Stocklemon, that Medifast has become grossly overvalued as they have not returned as much money to shareholders as they have to insiders. Valuation On Monday of this week, Nestle announced their purchase of Jenny Craig for $600 million.
This report, which does not show any substantial evidence, killed the stock.
It was down 21% on huge volume. I lost about 90% of a nice profit I had and it hurt that I just bought more shares yesterday. Fortunately, I was in bear market mode and ONLY HAD 400 SHARES. Lunch money! That is all you are allowed to play with in this lousy market.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=med
HOM got hit by Stocklemon last time and is way off its high with class action lawsuits in the works.
Lucas was smart and shorted MED as soon as the news came out.
The sell rules:
Big decrease on big volume? - yes
Decline of 15% off high? - yes
Featured in a Stocklemon? - yes
Wow! Maybe I should sell. DUHHHHHHH!
HSR had blowout earnings, but if it can hold 15 until Monday, it can be on Stocklemon by Tuesday.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hsr
TORRANCE, Calif., Apr 11, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Hi-Shear Technology Corporation (AMEX: HSR) today announced results for its third quarter ended February 28, 2006. Revenues of $6,231,000 were 84% higher than the $3,392,000 reported in the same period last year. Net income for the quarter ended February 28, 2006 was $715,000, or $0.11 per share, as compared to $173,000 or $0.03 per share, for the same period last year. Revenues recognized during the nine months ended February 28, 2006 of $16,073,000 were 39% higher than the revenues of $11,600,000 recognized during the same nine-month period last year. Net income for the nine months ended February 28, 2006 rose 66% to $1,733,000, or $0.26 per share, as compared to the net income of $1,041,000 or $0.16 per share, for the same nine-month period last year. The growth in revenues and net income resulted from increased production of national defense products and both space vehicle and satellite components.
Hi-Shear Technology provides pyrotechnic, mechanical, and electronic products to the aerospace and defense market in applications where safety, performance and high reliability are essential. It develops and produces advanced systems and products that are primarily used worldwide in space satellites, launch vehicles, national defense, and government programs.
Adding more HSR yesterday kept my portfolio from disaster today! I bougth more. And MIKR may be the next big one. But just between me and you.
There is a new show on HBO called "Lucky Louie" and the guy looks a lot like Cramer.
UTK was down today. There was news that they licensed some bio-fuel technology.
This company issues a lot of stock. I think they are waiting for their one giant licensing deal.
DK must be a bargain. Look at all the insiders who are buying this Israeli refiner/gas station/ convenience store company.
http://www.nasdaq.com/asp/holdings.asp?mode=&kind=&symbol=dk&symbol=&symbol=&symbol=&symbol=&symbol=&symbol=&symbol=&symbol=&symbol=&FormType=form4&mkttype=&pathname=&page=insiderform4&selected=DK
It is still below IPO price. That is like Wholesale!
I can see this one at 25. A Pox on Stocklemon. Rest easy, I got your back. Snowcat
Hey Guys - hope your all making some money - or at least not losing much.
Med is a great call - I expect a reaction rally early - just like HOM and look to go short around $18.50.
I'd say that GAP at 13.50 would be the first target back down
Mornin' Snowy
It seems like Stocklemon has quite a record, thus it smells fishy. I am currently holding HOM, it was wild to see the drop in MED yesterday.
Check out this Blog when you get a chance, he did a bunch of research:
http://stocklemonaide.blogspot.com/
How much faith do you have in Mr. lemon over there. I guess until proven broken they seem to have the money to back their predictions so us small retailers should not try to buck them... I only wish that they would post when they cover as well :)
Trying to decide what to do with my HOM, down 14% but storm season is just starting.
Cheers Joe
Yow! Something unkosher is going on there! I just sent this poorly written letter off to the SEC and AMEX:
Sirs
AMEX stocks, MED and HOM, were both featured in an online investigative reporting site, "Stocklemon", which reports on "stocks with troubles brewing". After the reports, the stocks took big drops:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MED&t=3m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=hom
The interesting thing is that these are both AMEX stocks and they both have the same market maker.
I think there may be some improper trading going on with the market maker of the stocks and "Stocklemon". I think you will find other curious patterns too.
If someone gambles on the stock market and loses some money based on market conditions, that is one thing. If the stocks are being manipulated just so a few people can make some money, I think this should be looked into.
Here is some information on the market maker for these stocks:
http://stocklemonaide.blogspot.com/
Thank you,
Snowy Von Snowcat
This is the address for SEC complaints:
http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml
AMEX:
[email protected]If someone is manipulating the market after I research and invest in a stock, either I want in or I'm gonna report them.
You should report them too! No one is gonna make Snowcat look bad but Snowcat!!
Wait! What if this is a manipulation too! - I write a letter to the SEC, they prove that Stocklemon is a bunch of leaky scumbags, they throw the lot in jail and MED soars!
After I sold it! I am playing right into their boney hands. Damn!
I must write another letter! This time to the president of the SEC, Dick Trickle!
hey - who got your back?
This is in response to your recent inquiry regarding HOM and MED.
We appreciate you bringing your concern(s) to our attention. The NASD, pursuant to a grant of authority from the American Stock Exchange LLC (Amex), will review this matter from a regulatory perspective. Unfortunately, we are unable to disclose to you the contents of our review. This review and all documents that are contained in our investigatory files are confidential. The production of these documents would have a negative effect on the self-regulatory process and would be detrimental to the public interest. In order to assure continued witness cooperation in future investigatory, disciplinary, and regulatory proceedings, and to maintain the integrity and effectiveness of an SRO's (Self Regulatory Organization) regulatory techniques and procedures, the courts have frequently recognized the privileged status of such documents.
Be assured that while appropriate action will be taken if any improprieties were found, any monetary restitution should be pursued either through your firm or the arbitration process.
Sincerely,
NASD Amex Regulation
[email protected] (212) 306-1381
This e-mail, including attachments, may include confidential and/or proprietary information, and may be used only by the person or entity to which it is addressed. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by replying to this message and deleting this e-mail immediately.
This email, including attachments, may include confidential and/or
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intended recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is
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Snowcat - HSR imploded in the last half hour. I don't see it on Stocklemon and no news on Yahoo Finance. I'm noticing with stocks that are on the cusp of IBD listing or new to IBD a pattern of extreme volatility -- IFO, MED, HSR.
06/23/06
When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras. – Old Saying
Yow, what at day.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
I got fooled by HSR again. Someone played the same trick on me twice.....pushing the price up above 15 and then pulling it back 3 points 5 minutes b4 closing.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ecn?s=HSR
I was taken by surprise and was just not quick enough on the trigger. I suspect it will drop and come back like it did b4.
For that matter, as Lucas suspects, probably all AMEX stocks are manipulated. Guess I have to write another letter.
What about the sell rules? They are still in play, and I am very concerned with the big drop on big volume – I just can't do much about it now – and like with MED, it was not a substantial amount of shares, though I blew a nice profit. I was up about 20% and squandered it. In this crummy market I will have to be quicker on the trigger.
MIKR also fell on big volume in the last few minutes and I could not catch it. Maybe I should just walk around with the stock screen on my head I can plug it into my ass.
I like the chart on OMNI
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=OMNI&t=1y
Good thing I am in bear market portfolio mode or I could have been really hurt.
If anyone wants to put in a complaint about me, send it to "Twin Donuts, 124 Rockaway Pkwy, Inwood, NY 11096.
I will try to be smarter next week. Have a great weekend, Snowy.
06/26/06
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. – Winston Churchill
A little more sanity today as MIKR which fell Friday for no reason bounced back to recover the dollar it lost and then some. MIKR is one of the best looking stocks out there and is holding up pretty well. The stock finished up 9% to hit 14. If it is over 15 on Friday, I will watch it like a hawk to make sure I do not get into the HSR like selling at the last minute.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MIKR
A closer look at HSR over the weekend had me see that the stock did not break its upward trend, so, even though it took a big spill on big volume, I held on today. Friday, I would have likely sold if I could. I will see what happens. I only have small potatoes on the table, but I am down and would hate to lose more.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HSR&t=6m
My largest holding, GV, continued in the uptrend, gaining 6%. It is under $2, profitable, and will likely advance in the upcoming storm season.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GV&t=6m
UTK also kicked butt today, up 7% - but it is volatile and trades with low volume. The company works with universities to market their discoveries.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=utk
Ethanol/health food company, STKL is selling one of their ethanol plants in China and is up a little.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060623/sunopta_contract.html?.v=1
I continue to urge everyone to drop an e-mail to the SEC and AMEX telling them that Stocklemon is doing some sour business.
Stocklemon, the "investigative" newsletter that caused HOM to fall, also hit MED last week.
Something unkosher is going on there the next stock they attack may be one that you own!
AMEX stocks, MED and HOM, were both featured in "Stocklemon", which reports on "bad stocks". After the reports, the stocks took big drops:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MED&t=3m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=hom
The interesting thing is that these are both AMEX stocks and they both have the same market maker.
Here is some information on the market maker for these stocks in a site that shows the pits in Stocklemon:
http://stocklemonaide.blogspot.com/
This is the address for SEC complaints:
http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml
and AMEX complaints:
[email protected]They received and responded to my complaints. If they get another 10, they will look at this very closely! Spread the word. Send a complaint, or do not cry if you lose money next. It will take you two minutes.
Investor Warren Buffet plans to leave billions of dollars to charity; because of Stocklemon, I may not be able to. Snowcat
Be careful when you read my posts. A 3SOF subscriber was reading last night's comments, and the unthinkable happened!
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/dell-laptop-explodes-in-flames-182257.php
06/27/06
"Goodbye – and thanks for the fish"! – The dolphins, right b4 they are about to be teleported off of the doomed earth in "A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Doug Adams
Slow sunny day on Wall St. I guess the brokers are out in the Hamptons this week. But there is some NOIZ going around.
NOIZ which makes wireless components and test equipment was big around these parts for a while – right b4 it took a nose dive for no apparent reason. It was floundering around the ground floor for a while, off the IBD 100 and off of everyone's radar until they announced great earnings again. GREAT EARNINGS? UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR – UP 91%. The stock is up 20% today on 4xadv and it could make the IBD 100 again and make a run at its former high of 23!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=NOIZ
If I were a betting man, I might add a few slices of this to my sandwich.
HSR continued higher, up 9% and breaking 15. I think this is a safe bet until Friday afternoon when it has traditionally fallen below 15 in the last minutes of trading. The company is top-notch; it is just a traders stock for the moment. As more funds get involved in the stock and the volume picks up, it will be harder for the market makers to manipulate it.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=HSR
Chinese fertilizer and pesticide company, BBC has been running very hot as of late. Today it is up over 9% on good volume. It has been a star the past month as it doubled from its low. The earnings look good, big contracts being signed and plenty of folks in China to feed...
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=BBC
More problems with the new Microsoft Software continue to plague the company:
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/dell-laptop-explodes-in-flames-182257.php
Listen, it's been fun, but I have got to go. Snowcat.
06/28/06
If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! – PJ. O'Rourke
Stagnant market today with some limited downside showing on the portfolio. It looks like everyone is waiting to see what the Fed says tomorrow and then they will take a guess on what to do once they say it. I expect interest rates to rise in order to control spending (or something else if they are not discussing that).
MED, the diet company, that took a dive after some unwarranted bad press arose, recovered 14% in heavy trading. I like this company and was very unhappy with the hatchet job it got. It bounced off the 50dma and finished near the high of day. This is a good sign.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MED
I think the "bad press" was just coordinated with a strong bull run and an overbought position and it just stimulated the eventual profit taking. You may want to watch this one if it gets back on track. I bought a few shares.
A new issue and hurricane play made its debut today:
PGTI PGT Inc. IPO prices below range; makes impact-resistant windows and doors; hurricane play (14.00 )
PGT Inc. prices its IPO at $14, below the expected range of $16-18. The co makes residential impact-resistant windows and doors and pioneered the US impact-resistant window and door industry in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Its impact-resistant products (WinGuard brand) combine heavy-duty aluminum or vinyl frames with laminated glass to provide protection from hurricane-force winds and wind-borne debris. Impact-resistant windows and doors satisfy increasingly stringent building codes in hurricane-prone coastal states and provide an attractive alternative to shutters and other "active" forms of hurricane protection that require installation and removal before and after each storm.... The co has a lot of exposure to Florida, the largest impact-resistant window and door market, at 88% of sales. Also, the co has significantly greater market share than that of any of its competitors. WinGuard sales have increased at a CAGR of 51% since 1999 and represents 56% of total sales (44% was non-impact resistant). The co expects WinGuard sales to continue to represent an increasingly greater percentage of its business. The impact-resistant window and door market is growing faster than any major segment of the overall window and door industry primarily driven by more stringent building codes and the fact that WinGuard is comparably priced to the combination of traditional windows and shutters. Following the devastating 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, there were no reported impact failures. Co also expects increased demand along the Atlantic coast, from Georgia to New York, as recently adopted building codes are enforced... To keep up with demand, the co is expanding its manufacturing capacity by moving into a much larger facility. The co is profitable and reported 2005 revenue of $332.8 mln, up 40% yr/yr. Q1 WinGuard revs were $60 mln, up 52.5% yr/yr... Briefing Note: We're surprised this one price so poorly. It has great growth and it's a hurricane play. Would keep on the radar when hurricane stocks move as people may
forget about this one. This is an 8.8 mln share deal led by Deutsche and JP Morgan. (IPOXX)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pgti
Concentrate, play your game, and don't be afraid to win – Amy Strum Alcott, golfer
I think the fed will try to tickle the market back into shape tomorrow, whatever that might be. Snowcat
06/29/06
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. – Will Rogers
So the Fed cut the rate ¼ of a point. You should be dancing in the streets! All the "Quality" stocks like SBUX, ZOLT, CIB, HANS, etc, were celebrating like it was the 4th of July; shooting up like fireworks!
The Fed Chairman said MED is forbidden to participate in any rally.
All the good stuff - SBUX, WIRE, LDSH, ZOLT were up nicely today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=hans+goog+dxpe+wire
The penny candy stocks are sitting this one out.
Market still does not look good and the volume was low.
Yoyo stock, HSR is above 15 again – let us see where it ends up tomorrow. +9%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=gv+noiz+cup+hsr+brvo.ob+mea+mps+argn+cib+dk+ers+omni+mikr
Since MPS is near 15 and DK is over 15, there may be some changes in the IBD 100 this weekend!
MIKR had another lousy day for a good stock. I will have to sell soon to preserve my 10% gain.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MIKR
I am going to the Yankee/Met game tomorrow~!
That is the World Cup of NY!
I thought this would be fun to amuse ourselves with since we won't be trading much this summer:
Apparently this is the most popular screen saver in the U.S. If he gets stuck, push him with your cursor. You can also grab him with the cursor & chuck him about, and whizz him round and round!!!
http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/georgie.htm
May your day be filled with all things good. Snowy
So no one gets confused:
The "rate raise" of 1/2 point was cut by 1/4 point so we only got a raise of 1/4 point.
It's called "Stock Market Logic".
06/30/06
If you are hungry, there is someone hungrier. – African saying
The market followed through nicely today with good gains all around.
Yesterday, I mentioned that the market was up on a ¼ point Fed rate cut. The rate actually rose ¼ point, but it was expected to raise ½ point, so there was a cut. Stock Market logic. If you want financial news, go to CNN.
I am cutting out a bit early to go to the Met/Yankee game, so here is what is going on so far:
Cool cat pick, ISIG rocked, up 12% today to well over $2. They mentioned it at $1.85, so we have to pay more attention to them.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=isig
My largest holding, GV was up 10% today. With storm season approaching, this low priced value stock is a bargain!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gv
Good thing I did not sell MIKR yesterday. The stock rebounded 11% to put me up 25% on this one.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mikr
Energy Company, OMNI, which I added last week, was up 8% on 3x adv. The chart is a work of art!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=omni
Engine maker, RGUS, which is supposed to have a new fangled rotary engine, was up 9%, passing through $2. This is widely mentioned in various newsletters.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=RGUS.OB&t=3m
ZOLT, which I zolted out of when it fell into a pit, continued up without me. Now the stock is almost back to $30. They make carbon fiber, a product stronger and lighter than steel! http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ZOLT&t=1y
Ethanol looks back in session with nice gains on the big 3 – PEIX, MGPI & ADM
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=peix+adm+mgpi
Oil sands Company, CWPC.ob, on line gambling company GIGM and SIMC also did nicely. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=gigm+simc+cwpc.ob
I bought some NGA because big trader Susan bought some.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NGA
And so far, HSR has held over $15. Enjoy the Weekend. Snowcat
07/7/06
"I think he went seven that day, hit a couple of home runs." – Massachusetts native Tom Glavine of the Mets talking about his first visit to Fenway Park when he was 7 or 8 and being asked how Babe Ruth did in that game.
A few home runs were hit today! Lots of stuff looked good.
HSR broke 15 on Friday and made it to the IBD 100 – it then continued up today to $17.65 – up $1.10! See Ya at 20!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=ers+simc+gv+mikr+brvo.ob+nga+hsr+mea+mps+med+argn+cup+xnl+peix+mgpi
Ethanol and oil stocks were strong performers with OMNI and ABLE looking great!
Friday's purchase, NGA, was up 9% on 3x adv
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nga
Thank Q. Harry knows telecom. In fact, Harry Newton wrote the Telecom Dictionary. So when he says he likes Q, a leading telecom company with a hot looking chart, I will pay attention. Harry also thinks that it is a possible buy-out opportunity.
http://www.technologyinvestor.com/
GV was up another 6%, SIMC broke out with an 18% jump on good volume, MED was up a dollar and NOIZ up 12% –
BUT
The Big Story: Aluminum Company, ERS, had a massive breakout!!! The stock was up 15% on decent volume for a shortened day. This company was selling in the $60s not too long ago. I think it can come back like IFO did.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ERS&t=1y
This is a good stock with a pe of 15 and the main reason this stock got killed was due to the big June sell off. Hop aboard this train with Big Trader Susan and Myself. I think it will be a fun ride. I bought back my shares today! It trades for about 15.
Have a great Independence Day. Be thankful of all the great opportunities available in America and the brave men and women who sacrificed for the liberties we have.
Snowcat
Snow / Lucas
Are you still in MED?
It looks like it may be setting up for a head and shoulders pattern.
I may finally take a short position in the AM - I'll have a stop at 19.97 if it busts through.
07/05/06
A GOVERNMENT BIG ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANT, IS STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE. – Thomas Jefferson
I got a lot of what I wanted today, good returns on my portfolio. Good health and world peace and I'll have it all.
Despite North Korea firing missiles into the sea, the market came back showing no fear. It is hard to take the Dictator of N Korea seriously with his Elton John glasses and that leisure suit.
Ken Lay died. The architect of the Enron scandal should find it mighty hot where he is now – and it is not Texas!
The portfolio had major gains today – up close to 10% on a widely diversified bunch of stocks. The only stinker in the group was CIB.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=cib+ers+mikr+hsr+utk+simc+peix+nga+mwy+mikr+med+able+bbc
MIKR broke 15, MWY has heavy insider buying and ERS looks like it is coming back!
Two from Coolcat to watch: TII and ININ
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=tiii+inin
In last month's Coolcat contest, I was #3 with HOM short. (Behind LBIX and IFO short)
This month, I think I picked HSR.
Have a great night. Snowcat
07/06/06
The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. – Mark Twain
That was what was left of me as most of my big profits from yesterday vanished. The volume was not huge, so I venture it was profit taking and not panic.
HSR and SIMC were down 8%, but only after massive runs and ERS seems to have hopped a ride on the shuttle, up another 8% (about 20% for the week – better than any mutual fund I own). The other parts of the portfolio that were down were small potatoes!
Big movers of the day were FORD, the cell phone jacket company, which fell from 30 down to chump change, was up 33% today and XWG and MBAY were also big winners.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=ford+xwg+mbay
Two which are bouncing back on good volume ala ERS are two Big Trader Susan favorites, TZOO and IFO. IFO might be coming back from a standing 8 count for the second time! It also split, so it is only ½ as bad as it looks. We made over 100% gains on IFO b4 fwiw. And TZOO was a $100 stock not too long ago that got beaten down to $15 and has made a comeback on good earnings. Earnings will be announced in a few weeks and word is that they look good! The volume on these is impressive and should not be ignored. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=tzoo+ifo
My position is "Stay the course". I still likes what I likes and I am comfortable with the way the portfolio is diversified. Full speed ahead! Snowy
07/07/06
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. – Bill Gates
Yeah, I use that quote a lot. Today was a humbling day, as all the money I made on Monday disappeared.
I was watching MIKR like a hawk the last hour of the day. My heart dropped as the stock went from a high of $16.50 to below $15. A close below 15 would have hurt the price of the stock because of the anticipation of it making the IBD 100 list. With my finger floating on the sell button, I saw the stock gradually crawl back to finish above $16! It should enter the IBD 100 in the top 20. I bought more in the last minutes.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MIKR
I would think Chinese chemical company, BBC would be next to make the IBD 100, but it took a bad hit today too. Being that all stocks got hit, I do not feel so dumb, but I should keep a tighter leash on my holdings. It is hard when I hold volatile stocks like HSR and SIMC.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=bbc
Otherwise, stay the course. Earnings are out on TZOO soon and there are high expectations. It fell back a bit too along with everyone else. Follow the rules carefully and watch for big drops on high volume – a sign to sell. Several of my stocks are on the edge of the cliff and might be sold Monday for my own good.
As long as I have my health and my family, I can handle any stock market downturns. It is only money. Snowy.
Italy should win the World Cup as France will probably just surrender.
07/10/06
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. – Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher.
I had my share of folly today as my portfolio got raked over the coals. I had to bail on my favorite, GV as it broke through two levels of support. ERS fell 8% on strong volume. SIMC continued down.......etc.
I had a small number of shares of a diversified group of stocks, but they got hammered. I obviously over-extended myself and thought the market was in better shape than it was. It is time to regroup.
Some nice gains were seen on other fronts, but they did not make up for beating I took.
The Cool Cat stocks did great today:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=inin+tiii+lbix+usey
Others they like are BAMM LTBF PSPT GLBL LTD
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=bamm+ltbg+pspt+glbl+ltd
Some to watch
Here is the IIC top 10 under 10:
http://stockcharts.com/candleglance/?IFO,GIGM,GMTC,EGY,TLG,SWB,DTLK,ARTG,STKL,DSGX|B|A12,26,9
And the IBD list of top 10 low priced stocks:
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/low071006.html
The reason the French lost the World Cup of Soccer was because they were waiting for the US to bail them out in overtime.
It was a rough day, but I know you had my back. Snowcat
07/11/06
If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be. – Yogi Berra
The train bombings in India put more of a scare in the market, but it recovers quickly. Its memory is short and the day finished up positive.
I took profits on NGA near 7 and MEA near 6 as I wanted to preserve the few profits I had remaining. GV continued down and there were some nice rebounds from ERS, SIMC and GIGM. MGPI was the only ethanol stock to have a decent day, +5%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=ers+simc+gigm
Cool cat continues to do well:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=tiii+lbix+inin+usey
I sold a few things because they either broke support or exceeded an 8% loss, several are up now, but that is what happens in this market.
There are plenty of good stocks still out there and there are opportunities to make money, but I have to be more selective and quicker on the trigger. My trading action this past week has made Ameritrade more money than it made me this past week
I am still in bear market mode – I just let down my guard and paid for it.
Hopefully, a lesson learned. Snowcat
07/12/06
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. – Mark Twain
I guess the same could apply for investment books (I meant SELL when the stock drops 20% on huge volume and has its own chapter in Stock Lemon and is under investigation by the SEC and IRS, not BUY!!)
Again nothing to cheer about today, and I will not be making any buy suggestions. In fact, over the weekend, Mr. Market did a great analysis on AXR, and since then, the stock fell 11 POINTS!!!! YOW!!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AXR&t=5d
At least I know when to keep my mouth shut.
Cool cat pick, ININ still looks great and should be on the IBD 100 this week. They know their stuff. Maybe I should do like they do!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=inin
No one is saying anything too smart on the revised Yahoo message boards, which are a mess. Not like I would want to read anything in chronological order or something.
The Indian stocks held up well considering yesterday's terrorist attack. I think we are becoming calcified by the terror. If the mayhem no longer scares us, it still an act of terrorism?
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060712/indian_stocks_second_look.html?.v=1
I'm not even looking at my portfolio any more. I'll just wait for Ameritrade to contact me about the Margin Call.
Don't worry about the market too much; there is plenty of money to be made there. Snowy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Two guys, one old and one young, are pushing their carts around Home Depot when they collide. The old guy says to the young guy, "Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
The young guy says, "That's OK. It's a coincidence. I'm looking for my wife, too. I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate."
The old guy says, "Well, maybe we can help each other. What does your wife look like?
The young guy says, "Well, she is 27 yrs old, tall, with red hair, blue eyes, long legs, big boobs, and she's wearing tight white shorts. What does your wife look like?"
The old guy says, "Doesn't matter --- let's look for yours
07/13/06
Upstream for you is always downstream for someone else. – African saying
Well it still looks like I am still downstream from someone's toilet. As things get worse in the Middle East, the market seems to be getting worse. Oil and energy stocks have not risen despite escalating tensions there. The price of oil has hit $76 a barrel. My "low risk" portfolio is at an all time low as the market continues to crash.
Many stocks look like bargains, but they looked like bargains a week ago when they were 10% higher too.
So should you short the market?
I have seen a list of shorts from some newsletters, and they were not doing that great either. – In fact, if you shorted Mr. Market's BUY from Monday, AXR, you would be up about 12 points. Go figure.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AXR&t=5d
Or if you just held my portfolio short for the last week, you would have made about $2000 a day!
TZOO's earnings were a bust and it fell further – so much for Big Trader Susan and her ideas............ but I can't blame her for the bad market.
MIKR dropped below 15 along with ININ, and NOIZ, DK and HSR are very close.
The Stock Market is down, but it has been down before and has come back. I know it is hard to be patient, but the market came back from several "Black" Fridays and the 9/11 Attack. The American economy is still strong – it is just investor confidence which is wavering – and most of them no nothing about the economy – they are frightened of the bad things going on around the world.
I am not crazy, I have my limits too. There is a point where I will sell everything and sit the rest of the storm out. But I have yet to reach it.
Tomorrow, I will try to resist commenting on the best 1 year CD rates. Snowy
07/14/06
You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run.......- Kenny Rogers, "The Gambler"
Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes. – Confucius
He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. – Old saying.
Just trying to cheer myself up, but at least the stocks I sold earlier in the week are even lower today. But that is a great rational for a loser, not me.
Someone pointed out to me today, that if you have 10,000 shares of a stock, and the stock drops $2, you lose $20,000. That could be a problem if your name is not Bill Gates. If you do plan to trade in this market, do not overextend yourself.
The only decent performance on my list was ININ, which finished up 5% to 15. It may make the IBD 100, as if that matters.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ecn?s=ININ
MIKR and HRS got kicked off the list so badly; they may be long to recover.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=mikr+ers+ifo+hsr
So I am licking my wounds from a tough week. I am down, but not out. And probably a few more clichés apply.
Misery loves company.
There will be plenty of other opportunities to make money, the market will recover, but it just may take a while. The sun will come up tomorrow. In the meantime, I think my scant portfolio is safe for the weekend. Snow.
07/16/06
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible. – George Burns
That is the theme of today's comments.
More of the same, piled higher and deeper. The portfolios of folks a lot smarter than me got creamed again too as fighting in the Middle East, the economy, the hot weather and price of chuck chop in Secaucus, NJ continued to take its toll on the market.
I had held on to some oil related stocks and ethanol stocks with the thought that the problems in Lebanon would at least cause oil stocks to rise, but just my luck, they discovered a way to get cars to run on air or something and the prices fell.
Some good news if you own MGIC – rose 60% on a deal with IBM , but it was otherwise a day to look for shorts (or put on shorts and go to the beach)._
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mgic
Military battery maker ARTDX got an order that boosted its price 17%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=artxd
If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend seven of them sharpening my ax! – Abe Lincoln.
Use this time to sharpen your ax so when the market is ready for you, you will be ready for It. sNOWY!
IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is an important security matter that I wanted to bring to everyone's attention.
Your driver's license is available on the internet for everyone to see!
I just searched for mine and there it was...picture and all!
Thanks Homeland Security! Privacy, where is our right to it?
I definitely removed mine; I suggest you all do the same.
Go to the website and check it out.
www.license.shorturl.com
Just enter your Name, City and State (or country) to see if yours is on file.
After your license comes on the screen, click the box marked "Please Remove".
This will remove it from public viewing, but not from law enforcement use.
Forward this to everyone; this invasion of privacy must stop.
07/17/06
There is no such thing as luck. It's a fancy name for being always at our duty, and so sure to be ready when a good time comes. – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, British statesman
Stuff happens – old saying
Some investor friends of mine were complaining about the market and the money they have lost recently. They fail to blame themselves because their investments were all good. "Stuff happens", they say.
If someone is walking down the street and gets hit by a meteorite, hey, stuff happens.
If someone smokes cigarettes for forty years and gets lung cancer, that is not unexpected stuff.
If someone runs across a busy freeway and gets hit by a car, that is not unexpected stuff.
If you play the stock market and lose your money, that is not unexpected stuff.
In certain things in life there are expected risks – and when you gamble, with your money or your health, you can lose.
There are ways to control these risks. You want to lower your chances of getting hurt in a car accident, don't drive. You want to lower your risk of becoming obese, don't overeat. You don't want to die in a mid-air plane crash, don't get on a plane.
You don't want to lose money in the stock market, don't trade.
But you CAN make money trading, you CAN enjoy great food, you CAN have fun driving and you CAN travel to some great places around the world safely on a plane.
Just learn to control your risks.
Don't fly during thunderstorms, don't drive if your brakes are bad, don't eat food that is bigger than your head and don't buy stocks in a bear market.
I know of people who do many days of research deciding which $200 cell phone to buy but will plop down $10,000 on a stock Jim Cramer farts out during his broadcast.
Do your homework to improve your life – take a defensive driving course, diversify your investments, eat sensibly. These can are things you can do to help lower your risks.
With stocks, make sure you invest NOT to lose money!!
Some stock tips:
1- Get a book or DVD on some investment topic that interests you and practice different techniques before you invest. Practice makes perfect. Many programs are available for less than the cost of a cup of coffee at this site: http://www.invest-store.com/profittrading/tl070106.html
2- Don't take anything that I, or any other "investment person on the internet" says too seriously. Especially investment advice. If I were THAT successful, do you really think I would be entertaining you with my comments?
3- Follow the rules – Any rules. IBD has some great rules listed in their paper every day from "How to Make Money in Stocks" by Wm O'Neil (under $10 from that site, page 9) http://www.invest-store.com/profittrading/tl070106.html
4- From today's IBD, Sell Signals:
A – Climax top or exhaustion gap after big run-up
B - Heavy volume with little price progress.
C – Forms a late stage base.
D - Slices through a key moving average such as the 10-week line on heavy volume and fails to rally back.
E – Makes a new high on light trade.
F – Falls more than 7% from your buy point.
I will learn them, paste them on my monitor and follow them and I will become a better trader.
Today:
RTK -methane to liquid fuel co. up 21% on coal-to-fuel project
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=RTK
ISIG up 10%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=isig
HSR up 5% on low vol.
Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make yours any brighter. The joy in life comes not from surpassing another's gifts, but in fully manifesting our own. - Snowy, The Human Snowball
07/19/06
One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in. – Wayne Gretzky, hockey player
The Fed chairman said that the economy is on the right track and that cause the market to rocket. I guess he had to say something positive after his last meeting two weeks ago sparked a stock market avalanche!
The message boards lit up with "Rally Time" and "The Bear Market is over"! Be careful. The stock market is still in the doldrums, gas is still $3 + a gallon, a McDonald's "Happy Meal" is still $4, and fighting still goes on in the Middle East.
The economy might be on the right track if you have a high paying federal job like Bernanke, but to many, it is the same old, same old as two weeks ago.
Just about all of my favorites were up today, some without me. A few stocks made nice moves on good volume and a few just rose with the tide.
When the wind blows, even the turkeys fly.
Airbus announced some big orders yesterday which may have helped HSR rise 6%.
Beverage Company, LBIX, was trying to get back into its big climb up +9%!
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=lbix&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p72207499998
Steel coating company, NGA was up 24% on nice volume and aluminum seller, ERS, which is working itself out of the Grande Canyon, was up 12%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=cib+ers+mikr+hsr+utk+simc+peix+nga+mwy+mikr+med+able+bbc
My hurricane favorite, GV, has been inching up on low volume as the first storm of the season was developing off the Florida coast.
Yahoo owners said Boo Hoo as the internet giant plunged 20% on huge volume and brought many of its friends with it. It is a crummy bear market and you should not have been holding it – so do not tell me that "stuff happens"
I like to report nice gains on stocks I like, but let me wait for some more confirmation that this is not a bear trap (Market makers push prices up, get suckers to buy big, thinking the descent is over, then sell, leaving lots of bag holders). In the mean time, I will grab a comfortable seat and wait until the market settles down. When the time is right, I will try again – avoiding any stock that trades too thin.
We won't get fooled again! – The Who
Take care, Snowy
Howdie Snowy,
I would like to be as eloquent as your posts.... leave it to say that many of us out here truly appreciate your writing and candor.
I am wondering if you have a reason to favor GV over ADDL ?? ADDL was a favorite of mine last summer when it was still ZENX. their fundamental numbers are VERY similar... this chart makes ADDl look like the bigger winner but that is only because it started at .18, since last October i see parallel charts. Perhaps because ADDL is a BB stock and GV is listed?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?t=1y&s=GV&l=on&z=m&q=c&p=m50&p=m200&p=v&a=r14&a=m26-12-9&c=addl.ob
I am trying not to get too excited about todays run, actually thinking about shorting some that bounced well... but it is looking to me like it is time to get into one of these two hurricane plays. GV is further down from its 52 wk high and closer to its 52 wk low than is ADDL (how is that for TA :P) therefor i am leaning toward your choice of GV for more upside potential. Thoughts?
Cheers Joe
Joe,
I am not a fan of cheap stocks, but GV is a hundred year old company with earnings! A pe of 10, if that matters. They put up telephone poles when they are knocked down by the storms - how simple is that! And they own real estate.
This is a value company - and though they have not reached GOOG proportions in the last 100 years, I do think that this will attract attention and can be up 25% by the end of the year. I just bought a tiny amount at about #1.32
It has fallen past resistance and is worming its way up. Right now, I would not be betting buy or sell. The market sucks and you should sit back and plan your next move.
ADDL is not a stock for me - if I have to work hard to find info on it, it is not investor friendly. Trading is too thin and there in not even a Yahoo forum to pump the stock.
There are too many good stocks out there that I like to consider ADDL.
Snowy
Snowcat,
That's an interesting name. How did you come up with it?
I do enjoy reading your posts and quotable quotes and stock tips, etc.
Thanks for the invest-store.com site. they do have a lot of good resources - cheap too.
What do you think about AXR? When Mr. Market recommended I bought some and after it went down and the co announced 85C div, bought some more to average down.
Lalitha
Lalitha-
It snows a lot where I live.
I like AXR, but the volume is very low - you buy 10k shares and you bt 1/3 of the days ' trading.
Mr. Market is very smart and entertaining, but his timing stinks. The stock dropped 12 pts from where he bought it. Ouch.
You should have bailed at the 8% loss - or when it broke the trend line - or the 10 dma - or when it dropped on high volume. It is important that you follow the sell rules. Yesterday's rise may have been short covering. You do not have to be in the market all the time.
Make your goal "not to lose money".
If I drop a ball from the roof of a 10 story building and you are watching from the 5th floor window, chances are that it will continue down. And it takes very little effort to make a stock that trades 35k shares a day go down. Volume is a key indicator - it tells how people are thinking. Be careful.
I suggest you buy "How to Make Money in Stocks" by Wm O'Neil. It is written in an uncomplicated manner and is a guide to investing.
Regards,
Snowy
07/20/06
We made too many wrong mistakes – Yogi Berra
Yesterday's rise in prices was a fake, a bear trap, a lure, a short squeeze to get novice investors in and snare their money as the big, smart money sold out today.
TZOO followed in YHOO's footsteps with a $5 drop on descent earnings, but nothing is going to help in this environment. Most stocks are going to follow the trend on the stock market, which is down.
ISIG was up 18%, but everything else I see is down.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ISIG
A portfolio of puts would have been a good choice this week, and there is plenty out there to choose from.
Mr. Market's #1 pick this month, AXR hit below bottom as it dropped another 9% on 2x adv. And this is from a professional who went to an Ivy League school, so what should I know?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=axr
Tonight's homework is to look for stocks that will continue to fall......Internet? Human resources? Energy? Or should I just see what Cramer likes and do the opposite.
Either way, no buying until the storm clears. Snowcat.
07/21/06
Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice. – Henry Ford
Do your own research and discover great stocks and it will enrich you twice.
Since we are neither trading nor spending time worrying about our investments going down further, it is a good time to look into ways to improve our investing.
Fibs, Candles, Giant Footsteps, Waves, Quantex – try different methods without risking money and see what works for you.
I can see the Middle East situation erupting into a battle royale, not just with the Arabs and the Israelis, but between the Arab Sunni and Shiite factions. This disruption in the world order will not be a short term positive on the stock market. Bonds, CD's and dividend paying stocks are looking more attractive to stock traders who need a reprieve.
NFI continues to hold up in price with its 17% yield.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=NFI&t=6m
Have a great weekend and try to think like a bear for next week. Let's look at Down as the new UP. Snowcat.
07/25/06
Don't worry about avoiding temptation.....as you grow older, it will avoid you. – Winston Churchill
Where have all the top notch stock pickers gone who were regulars on 3SOF. Am I the only one who does not hide under his bed when the market takes a spill? Where are the short picks? Where are the put strategies? I thought I was going to have someone hold my hand during the rough spots when I paid my way into 3SOF. Now everyone has gone off to start a site of their own and I am the only stock picking authority left who I respect! Geeezzz! Maybe I should start sending $50 a month to myself!
The market had a decent follow through day with some great earnings news sparking the action. Oil field maintenance company, DXPE shot up 27% and many energy companies followed suit. – Even though oil prices fell!
Oil sands companies, CWPC.ob was up 19% and SOIGF.ob was up 14%
Ethanol company, ADM added 5% and "Solar film maker", XSNX.ob added to yesterday's huge gain, +10%.
Oil Company OMNI was up 6% to get over $10.
Tech companies got a big boost as SNDK added $6 to its price on good earnings!
NFI, the company with a 17% dividend rose to over $34 a share and NTRI lost a lot of weight in their investor's wallets, shedding 19% on good earnings!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=cwpc.ob+inin+nfi+xsnx.ob+soigf.ob+adm+omni+dxpe+ntri
Folks have asked how to get access to the InvestorInformationCenter lists, so here is the site – it is free and very informative.
http://maxpages.com/mrbreakout/Mr_Breakouts_FREE_RealTime
I am still playing armchair quaterback until I am confident I can find a way to make money.
Let's look forward to brighter days. Snowy
Snowy please consider me one of your fans.
You expressed what I suppose many have been chewing up.
I saw a few others say very politely same idea.
I'm not concerned about the monthly investment, but are highly worried
because this was the greatest site I knew during 2005 and now many
good traders trying to keep it alive. Have to do something to go back to
the original enthusiasm as well as TA excellent summaries.
At least this is MHO
jorgegr
07/26/06
I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it. – WC Fields
More of the same with a few breakouts, but what is up today is down tomorrow.
Oil related stocks seemed to gain a bit today for some reason. When oil prices were escalating with the Middle East War, the stocks were level or down last week.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=able+dxpe+omni+simc
SIMC has a great move on good volume, but that bounces around like a rabbit and you have to have a lot of patience with it and take profits while you can.
Here is a good article from today's IBD on "Sell What You See, Not What You Think"
http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/060725/corner.html
Basically, have sell rules and follow them, but read the article.
Soft drink Company, FIZ has one of the better charts and excellent numbers. I would ordinarily say that this is IBD 100 material, but I will save the pixels!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=FIZ
If you do still have stocks, watch out for upcoming earnings. NTRI had some excellent earnings and it took a huge bath the past two days! And ININ dropped 12% today on earnings that were up. It is very hard to please some folks.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ININ
NGA fell at the open and battled back up 6% and TASR got Tasered, down 12% on 5x adv. Here is a good article on what to do when a stock has good earnings then tanks:
http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2006/mft06072615.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=y&npu=y
Stay Angry! I am hooked on "Final Fu", a martial arts reality show on MTV2 at 7:30. Check it out – they have Karate guys fighting Kung Fu guys and all sorts of fun.
It is hosted by Ernie Reyes Jr., a TaeKwonDo legend! -Snowy
07/28/06
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
What if I told you that I had inside information that CKCM would report its Thirteenth Consecutive Quarter of Increased Revenue and Twelfth Straight Quarter of Profitability. Sounds pretty good, so what happens?
The stock fell bad. If you think you can predict the movement of a stock based on increased revenue and profitability, you are kidding yourself. To make money in stocks, sometimes you have to suspend your sense of logic.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CKCM
When I was a kid, one of the biggest marketing successes was the 'Pet Rock'. Yes, stupid as it sounds, it was a best seller – a rock in a box with care instructions. The reason it was a winner was the clever way it was marketed and the media made it a must have. They also sold houses, blankets and furniture for the rock. This kept sales brisk and it is a classic example of people spending their hard earned money on worthless junk.
We have some "Pet Rocks" today (though none as clever as the "Pet Rock"), "Heelies", the sneakers with the built in roller skate wheel, Video I pods (Come on, do we really need to watch a music video everywhere?), "Websters", toy creatures that you can buy and play with in an on-line world, and plenty of others that are so hot and new, I will not learn about them for months!
Now, there are stock versions of the "Pet Rock". Companies that are virtually worthless but due to excessive promotion and demand, the price keeps going up. The best example was during the Internet Bubble – whereby any company that had "dot com" in its name got immediately bid up in price.
But the key is to find the "Pet Stock" while it is still sitting in your garden.
To find these stocks, you have to look at the message boards, the pump sheets, the newsletters. Look for convincing stories like "Revolutionary New Engine (RGUS)" or "More Oil than in Saudi Arabia (SYNM)" or"New Solar Film (XSNX)" or "Make Endless Energy out of Garbage (XNL)". Look for the volume increasing, look for the message boards to explode with excitement, look to get in with money you can risk and look to get out b4 you find yourself stuck with a "Pet Stock".
Would a "Pet Rock" sell today? If it was marketed right, sure, as P.T. Barnum said "There is a sucker born every minute". If it is not marketed right, it is just a rock.
The Stock Market was a bit happier today in general, due to GDP growth, but some companies got hit with earnings news, good and bad.
FORD, the cell phone case maker, missed earnings, they stink – but even if they had great earnings they might have crashed.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ford
If you like the way EXXON does business, then this stock is for you: Ocwen Financial (OCN) Look at this great chart. They are a sub-prime lender.
So what if they are in hot water over predatory lending - refinancing loans at astronomical rates and quick to foreclose and put po' folks out in the street. Look at the $$$$ they make! And look at that chart! Up 5% near the hod!!
The Higher the interest rates, the more money they make!!! And no broken knee caps! Their primary competition is Tony Soprano. The public be damned!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=OCN
But look at THAT chart.
Enjoy your weekend. And relax, I got your back. Snowy
07/31/06
Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you make. - US Air Force Training Manual.
On Friday, Chevron made $4.6 Billion in profits for the 2nd quarter. Not good enough for Wall St. The stock went down. This is a tough crowd.
Today the market was weak, but some stocks on the watch list showed promise.
Airplane parts maker, HSR was up 17% on good earnings – still well below at what I sold it at, but I still like the company.
Gas futures were up, which boosted ALJ OMNI and ALY
Copper will continue to be in demand as CUP made a move up.
I like that ININ made a good move up 12% on nice volume and AXR arose from its coma, +6%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=AXR+ININ+ALY+OMNI+CUP+ALJ+MEA+USEY
But let's see what tomorrow brings. The Middle East is getting messier as terrorists who die without a uniform are called civilians and weapon batteries are hidden in schools and hospitals. Kuwait voted to cut back oil production to preserve its holdings for the future (when prices are higher, I guess), and Iraq is still Iraq.
So keep an eye on the market, but watch more comedies and less news. Snowy
08/01/06
My wife and I had words, but I didn't get to use mine. – Someone famous.
The market was down again on inflation fears, the Middle East crisis and rising gas prices. So what else is new? Anything that was up yesterday (ININ, NVEC etc....) was down today.
PSPT, an outsourcing company and a coolcat pick, was up yesterday and continued to rock and roll, up 24% on amazing volume. The earnings were great, but profits disappear fast in this fickle market.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pspt
NVEC which has a patent on a revolutionary nanotechnology breakthrough in data storage, jumped up big yesterday, but fell back to earth today. The technology is fascinating and will have a major impact on our lives. It is one to keep an eye on.
http://biz.yahoo.com/fool/060801/115445550216.html?.v=1
A few years ago, a film came out called "Supersize Me". It is a documentary where for 30 days; Morgan Sperlock goes on a McDonald's only diet. His weight balloons and his health deteriorate. His doctor is amazed at his breakdown, his addiction to the food and how his blood pressure rises to a dangerous level. Fascinating stuff and a great way to scare some sense into your kids (or yourself).
http://www.supersizeme.com/home.aspx
Sperlock has a show on FX called "30 Days", on at 10pm. Since you are not watching 'Madd Money', you might as well watch this. For a month, Morgan has someone living in someone else's shoes. Last week, he had a border patrolling 'Minute Man' who arrests illegal aliens living with a family of the same to see what it is like. He visited the family's relatives in Mexico (who they had not seen in years) to get an idea of the squalor and poverty they left – and how anybody living in those conditions would likely risk anything to escape that sort of life. It is not preachy, but interesting to see how the other half lives, and if you check it out, you will become a fan. It will definitely get you thinking and is great discussion material.
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/30days/main.html
Take care, Snowcat.
08/02/06
It was so hot in Washington DC today that the President met with the NAACP just to get the cool reception – David Letterman
Earnings today were better, so the market was up a little. Natural gas prices continue up as the heat wave in the east raises the demand for power. It seems it is best to buy the ng stocks in the summer and sell them in the winter if last year was an indicator.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5y&s=NGAS&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=ngs
It was so hot in NY today that Mayor Bloomberg asked the Statue of Liberty to put her arm DOWN.
Hurricane Cliff is headed to Miami and those stocks are showing some gains.
GV was up 10% on light volume, but that has been up and down like a yo-yo and HSOA (formerly HOM) was up 12%. I guess it still has a big fan base. I still think GV will be back to 2 soon if we are patient. If you track the Hurricane stocks, here is your list:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=IPII+GV+NCS+ENG+HSOA+SGR+pdge.ob+rgmi.ob+wegi.ob+addl.ob+onsc.ob+chys.ob+nlst.pk
If you track the Hurricanes, here is your site:
http://www.storm2k.nhcwx.com/cgi-bin/hw3.cgi?config=&forecast=tropsystems&year=®ion=NT&hwvstormid=3&alt=tropsystempage&hwvmetric=
It looks like some ping pong balls are headed towards the new leader of Cuba! Welcome to office Comrade Castro's brother.
AXR was up a buck on poor volume, FIZ is approaching 17 and PSPT continued up after yesterday's breakout, up 4% and CIB is moving towards 30.
Stocklemon found something new to go after. I think they made a mistake, because I do not own it.
Dear Reader,
Stocklemon has now proven that Fronthaul/Conversion Solutions (FHAL) is a COMPLETE FRAUD that is being played on the public. For anyone who wants a real good laugh, just listen to the unannounced conference call the CEO gave to the shareholders a few days ago and listen what a CEO who wants to go to jail sounds like. The updated report is a must read for anyone who wants to see the blatant abuses that are occurring in the micro cap stock market.
For the full report go to www.stocklemon.com
This is the best joke of the day, stolen from Harry Newton.
Forget your wedding anniversary?
Ed was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really MAD.
She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds. AND IT BETTER BE THERE!"
The next morning Ed got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a small box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, and brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Funeral services for Ed have been scheduled for Friday. His wife never did have a sense of humor.
Check out Harry's 'In Search of the Perfect Investment' site. Always good investment and technology info and the best jokes:
http://www.technologyinvestor.com/
Keep cool out there. Snowcat!
08/03/06
When an episode of 'Walker Texas Ranger' was aired in France, The French surrendered to Chuck Norris just to be on the safe side. – Top 100 Chuck Norris Facts
The market was up today as 'interest rate fears eased' they say. I do not know who they interviewed, but they don't know 'jack'. Or drive a gas powered car, for that matter. Oil prices dropped a bit as it looks like the latest hurricane is not going to pummel the Gulf Coast. The natural gas stocks and the hurricane stocks receded.
SBUX fell when their good earnings were not great. It recovered somewhat on massive volume as the stock now hovers near 30. I can see this as a maybe an October call option play. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ecn?s=SBUX
AXR is coming back, close to 40 – but the volume is still low.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AXR&t=6m
Revolutionary tech company, NVEC is nearing its 52 week high, up 2%. Read their story, it is likely that their product will change computers forever!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nvec
Predatory lender, OCN, was up another 6%! The chart is a work of art. Lawyers I know say that OCN mortgage brokers do not cast shadows. But the chart is a work of art!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ocn
Oil servicing company GLBL, a coolcat pick, was up 5% and looking good.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GLBL
Thought of the day:
If Hezbollah and the Palestinians were to lay down their weapons today, there would be no more violence.
* If Israel were to lay down its weapons today, there would be no more Israel.
Tonight, watch 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' at 10pm on FX, with Danny Devito. It is light –hearted mindless entertainment, kind of like 'Seinfeld' on crack.
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/sunny/
Don't say I didn't warn you. SHNOWCAT!!
08/07/06
What's the use of happiness? It can't buy you money. – Henny Youngman
The Stock Market was down today on an Alaskan Oil Spill and the Middle East situation getting more heated. Iran has its hands right on the heart of the world's oil pipeline at the Strait of Hormuz, so oil prices can jump quickly as fears increase.
I would be looking at how I could take advantage of the oil situation now as prices seem headed up. Maybe buy into the energy stocks or buy puts on everything else.
The Fed will meet tomorrow and if they raise rates or lower rates it will impact the market, but I am not sure which way. I will tell half of you the market will go up and half of you that the market will go down. That way at least some people will think I know what I am doing.
ABLE was up a bit and ALJ gained back what it lost Friday.
Canadian Oil Sands Trust was up a dollar, CWPC.ob up 5% and miner, BOB.v was up another 38% today like it was on Friday! (Unless there is something wrong with my ticker)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=sbux+mvl+bob.v+cos-un.to+cwpc.ob
MVL, the licenser of Spiderman, X-Men and other characters had a positive conference call and was up nicely. They have a bunch of movies due out next year including 'Spiderman 3' and 'Ghost Rider', with Nicholas Cage.
One I found that looks good is a Medical REIT, MPW. They own medical related properties, have a nice chart and an 8% yield.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MPW&t=6m
NFI, yielding 17%, blasted off today, following Friday's earnings, but finished the day much lower on high vol. I will keep an eye on where this one goes.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nfi
Tonight, "Girl Fight", a series about attractive girl kickboxers, 9pm, on The Oxygen Network. At last, a women's show I think I might like. I knew I was evolving! Snowmonkey!
good story
I went to a pool party this past weekend, and a friend of mine in his late 40's walks into the backyard with a beautiful 18yo. wearing a bikini top and cut off shorts, on his arm.
Someone asks "is that your daughter?"
He says "no, it's my girlfriend!"
All the guys drop their beers in shock and envy.......
then he says......"nahhhhh - its my daughter, my wife is in the house with the other yentas."
Nice tastes I bought MPW at 12.25 about 2 weeks ago. Its nice to see others are noticing that attractive stock. Healthcare REIT with lots of room to grow and a nice div. :). Good long term hold in this economy. Check out NBG as well for a foriegn bank euro play to hedge against dollar. Im planning to stick alot of money in NBG, MPW, FXE, FCE, and rest into utilities for a recession portfolio.
ACCIDENT IN TEXAS: YOU HAVE TO LISTEN!
It's a phone call from a man in Texas who witnessed a car accident involving
4 elderly women. It was so popular when they played it on CHUM FM that
they had to put it on their site.
This is so funny and his laugh is contagious! Close your eyes and just envision his word pictures !!!
Click here: http://www.chumfm.com/MorningShow/bits/march24.swf
Banks in stable countries are good. The healthchare REIT got a good write-up in Monday's IBD. I will quote it if I can find it. There are a bunch of good looking stocks with high yields out there, including several Blue Chips in the 5% range. But I can get a 1 year CD that pays more than that with NO risk. The stock market is as rigged as horse racing and professional rassling. Pass it on.
08/08/06
Money can't buy you happiness.....but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery. – Spike Milligan
The Fed did not know whether to raise or lower interest rates, so it did nothing. This sent the market lower. Oil prices slid despite the mess in Alaska. BP, it seems, stands for Big Problems. The Energy Czar, however, said we have plenty of oil on hand – probably enough to last until 7:30 tonight.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060808/energy_bp_production.html?.v=4
So what should you do with your money??? Hold it very tightly.
Oil prices go up, stocks go down. Stocks go down, oil stocks go down. Stocks are stocks and commodities are commodities. Don't get the two confused or think they are related. They are and they aren't. Make sense? I did not think so.
Oil refiner and convenience store operator, ALJ had some good earnings and chugged ahead towards 40. GIGM had some great earnings results, shot up fast and pulled back. GIGM runs online gambling sites (but they have had better results than E-Trade and TD Ameritrade).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=6m&s=ALJ&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=gigm
Billionaire, Marc Cuban, started his own "stocklemon" type site, "Stocksleuth", where he finds dirt on popular stocks. His first victim is XNL, the company that has been praised by some of the best magazines for their ability to turn garbage into ethanol. According to Stocksleuth, there is more than garbage stinking up XNL.
http://www.sharesleuth.com/
Disclosure: Moneybags Mark Cuban, the majority member of Sharesleuth.com LLC, sold short 10,000 shares of Xethanol's stock at a time when the price was around $12.65. Cuban also has sold short about 25,000 shares of UTEK Corp. (UTK: AMEX), a Florida company that is a large Xethanol shareholder.)
Good to see someone making money in this market. Not.
Let's do lunch. Snowwy
08/09/06
A danger foreseen is half avoided. – Thomas Fuller, clergyman
We foresaw the danger of this market a month ago and it got worse! For the most part, we got out, right? More oil concerns drove prices lower today as NGA, NVEC, HSR, AAPL etc....continued to crater.
ALJ and similar oil refiner/convenience store operator, DK looked good. Earnings on DK were up and the stock jumped up a dollar and CIB and ISIG also had good moves.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=dk+gv+cib+inin+q+
NFI continued to drop after the good earnings when it shot up and fell down in the same day. A good sell sign.
Since I have stopped trading, I am less tense and am able to concentrate on more important things.
MPW is a REIT that specializes in health care facilities. It develops, acquires and leases properties and also makes mortgage loans to health care operators.
Funds from operations increased 21%, 25% and 47% the past 3 q's. Revenue rose 63%, 64% and 96% in the same period.
The Birmingham, Ala based co. pays a $1 div or 8.2%. The co has raised the div 5 straight q's.
MPW will report 2nd q results after the close today. Let's see what happens.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mpw
Tonight I am going to the NY Mets game. I got practically front row seats, so it should be a fun game. I will wear my Mets jersey and hat in case they need a pinch hitter.
Stay focused on the positive. Snowpenis
MPW all the way ;) good to see other fellow board members in this great stock.
08/10/06
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. – Will Rodgers
The market was a little up today as if anyone would notice. Some terrorists were thwarted and captured and oil prices were down $2. Bans on hand carried items on planes caused passenger bottlenecks in airports as there will once again be a security crackdown b4 boarding an airplane.
Kendall noticed URBN broke out of its funk today, but I worry whether people are going to spend money on fancy clothes in the near future.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=URBN&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=0
Nullzero noticed that pricey eateries like CAKE, PFCB AND CPKI have taken noticeable dives in recent weeks. With more of our salaries going towards energy costs, will we have the disposable income to support excesses like eating in restaurants and buying luxuries? Donald Trump will not have to think twice, but the average Joe who treats himself to The Cheesecake Factory might. Nullzero thinks these are going down further!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=cake+pfcb+cpki
Prices were up a little on these eateries today (maybe they will announce a dollar menu), but the trend is still down. The drop in oil prices will not impact my wallet for a long time, if at all.
On the economic front, if Republicans get their cut in the inheritance tax, they promise to over tip. – Michael Feldman
XNL responded with nothing coherent to the accusations that the company is a sham in the article by Stocksleuth.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060810/20060810005648.html?.v=1
Energy stocks took a beating today with NGS down 15%!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NGS
CIB continued up almost a buck in its trek towards 30.
Stock "GURU" Mark Skouson is giving hints in his mailers that his next big 10 bagger (besides his wife) is CMED. CMED uses ultra sound to combat cancer. Earnings are due out on 8/17. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cmed
There will likely be a big move (up or down, I don't know – there is a lot of option activity).
Last night's Mets game was great. It was Perfect weather, Pedro was pitching and there was the return of fan favorite, Mike Piazza, who now plays for the Padres. Piazza got a standing ovation, hit two homers (and almost a game winning third) but the Mets won anyway.
And don't forget that letting the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n putting it back in! (Will Rodgers again). - Snowcatz
Great Stuff!
You are playing DK and ALJ like a fiddle.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=3m&s=DK&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=alj !
Look at what Toby Smith says about XNL
August 11, 2006
THE XETHANOL SLAM-JOB
Dear WaveRiders,
In all my years in the investment securities business, the actions of Mark Cuban and his ShareSleuth.com Web site may indeed be the most incredible act of stock manipulation and exploitation I have ever witnessed.
And I gotta tell you, I've gotten to know Mark through time spent on various Fox News events, and I really like the guy!
But I've got to wonder what he is thinking here, and more importantly, what he is doing? I hope to converse with him shortly and find out.
Because either he just does not get that when you sponsor a way over-the-top slam job on a publicly traded company and at the same time hold at least a 10,000-share short position, it's unethical at the very best.
I can't for the life of me understand why a smart, charismatic billionaire would stake his reputation on such a crazy stunt, but now at least I can say I've seen everything in the world of stocks.
Listen, ever since we were notified on this misguided (at best) attack on Xethanol (XNL), I have been working with management and others to rebut the incredibly inaccurate slam job done by ShareSleuth.com on XNL (to see the entire slam, paste this link in your browser:
http://sharesleuth.com/2006/08/moons...ness.html#more ).
And FINALLY, this afternoon XNL published their response to this slam job.
I will have more to report tomorrow, as I will be in New York City (God
willing) and will do everything I can do get additional data out of the company.
NOT THE FIRST TIME WE'VE SEEN THIS HAPPEN
To put this attack in context, think back to the past butcher job done on an energy trust we held (and sold at a 64% profit), Williams Coal Seam Gas (WTU), for context from Barron's during 2004-2005.
The journalist wrote the in that slam job that royalty trusts are a scam, the fields are running low, the residual value of the properties are about
$2
instead of $15 value, etc., etc. on the "scoop" of a couple of hedge funds who were short the stock.
Bear in mind this stock traded about 25,000 shares a day, and the Barron's article schmeissed the stock in half on the open, down 55%.
Sound familiar?
When I got the facts back to our subscribers we did TWO important
things:
1) We bought HUGE amounts of shares.
2) We crushed the short sellers by putting "good until cancelled" sell orders for the stock at $10 higher than our target price.
And this is what I want you to do tomorrow.
If Mark Cuban is going to pull this kind of stunt, we will fight back as hard as we can and hopefully teach the indiscriminate shorts a lesson here.
Listen, this is a Legacy stock, for crying out loud. We have a very small allocation of our capital in these stocks, and for many of our retired subs, you should NOT hold this stock.
But all the evidence coming into us on ethanol says that corn ethanol is not going come close to making a significant dent in our daily fossil fuel requirements. There's simply not enough corn or land to make ethanol AND at the same time feed livestock and people.
Cellulosic components are the best rootstock for ethanol production, and Xethanol is one of the only public ways for us to play the cellulosic ethanol wave we expect to grow at a 100%+ rate for the next five years, at least.
THE XETHANOL REBUTTAL
ShareSleuth claims that Xethanol facilities are NOT producing ethanol.
This is
an out-and-out untruth -- either a blatant lie or misinformation.
Xethanol states for the record that its Blairstown, Iowa, facility is producing ethanol at the rate of 450,000 gallons per month, which is currently generating a gross profit of more than 50 cents per gallon. And the company will be reporting full details of this on its Form 10Q filing with the SEC.
The ethanol that is produced is sold through Aventine Renewable Energy, which confirmed this information to me today. XNL also confirmed today that the expansion on the Blairstown site to add 35 million gallons per year of capacity is proceeding on schedule.
In addition, Xethanol has announced a planned expansion of 50 million gallons per year in Augusta, Ga., and 35 million gallons per year in Spring Hope, N.C.
The ShareSleuth report tries to make Xethanol look to be a sham and it's simply not true. The company is still in the development stage with lots of upside, and lots of operation and execution risk. That's why we have its in our Legacy portfolio. But a sham it is not.
pennyboy
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pennyboy
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And to call it a sham and be short the stock should be illegal -- and in fact, I believe a strong case could be made because there is no journalist privilege if you are responsible for the publishing of a slam-job article AND are currently short the stock.
But forget the legal issues -- the ethical line has been clearly crossed, without a doubt.
In its statement today, Xethanol goes on to rebut the other false claims made in the ShareSleuth article, defending its scientists and technology, its finances and its management and corporate governance.
BOTTOM LINE
This is just another in a long line of slam jobs that are part of investing in emerging, new industries. What makes this one so vile and unethical is that Mark is actively shorting the stock he is paying his "journalist" to vilify.
Mark, buddy, you are perfectly in your rights to publish anything you want about Xethanol -- this is America and our freedoms are what sets our country apart from others.
But to publish such untruths AND make a buck off it (not to mention hurt the small investors) crosses the line, big time. I think you at least owe our subscribers an apology for the disinformation you published.
So I am reiterating our Strong Buy price under $8 here for your Legacy portfolio.
And to help remove the stock from short-selling inventory, I'm recommending putting a "good-until-cancelled" sell order for $30 on the shares you hold.
Pay back is a you-know-what.
Hit 'em straight,
Toby
I will be filling in for Snowcat today.
08/11/06
Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.-
Will Rogers
Stocks dropped for a change.
XNL was up 20% at one point as investors bashed Marc Cuban for shorting the stock and then announcing on his "investigative" site that the stock was a stinker. Market "guru" Tobin Smith called his actions irresponsible and urged his zombies....er......readers to buy XNL under 8. The stock had a heavy short position, so jumped on the buy action. What happens next week is anyone's guess. PEIX, the ethanol stock which Bill Gates is an investor in has taken a beating over the past month too. Maybe Gates and Cuban can battle it out in the battle of the billionaires!
OCN financial, the mortgage lender with a less than stellar record of being a fair lender hit 15 today. This may make the IBD 100 and get some additional exposure. It also makes itself available to large mutual funds that will generally not buy stocks under 15.
The chart is a beauty and despite rising interest rates and decreasing home sales, their aggressive work force has been increasing sales.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=dk+alj+ocn+inin
ININ finally caved in. Its recent drop was a sign of what was coming.
The gasoline/convenience store duo of ALJ and DK were each up a dollar. DK is a fairly new issue and is very aggressive in acquiring service stations in the south east US.
Here is an interesting site called the 'Daily Blog Watch' where you can find interesting investing tidbits from a variety of Blogs.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/investing/10303192.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
This is a great site if you like to hunt for your own stocks. You just put in the parameters of the stock you want (let's say, stocks that increased by 20% on 2x adv) and they come up. Be your own stock picker! Make big Bucks!
>http://www.multibagger.com/fooltrade/screener.asp
Let's look for some good news in the Middle East this weekend. I hear the President of Iran invited Mel Gibson over to discuss Middle East politics. - genegene
08/14/06
If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there. – Will Rogers
The cease fire in the Middle East eased fear in the markets and there was more buying than selling. Oil prices dropped a bit with hopes that the terrorist situation can be resolved. Unfortunately, that might involve wiping out a whole bunch of turnip heads. (Note that I do not mention the terrorists by a race or a religion, because that would be stereotyping – from now on, I will just refer to them as the "turnip heads". It is not a slur and should not offend anyone.) Let's see how long that lasts. Things appear to be business as usual in other parts of the Middle East.
I have got a bunch of attractive stocks on my list which I think will zoom when Wall Street returns from the Hamptons. One of those used to be on the Top 10 under $10 list.
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/low081406.html
HMSY has become a very attractive, investment stock, as opposed to rampant speculation.
HMS Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides various cost containment and payment accuracy services relating to government healthcare programs in the United States. The company, through Health Management Systems, Inc., works on behalf of government payors to help contain healthcare costs by recovering expenditures that were the responsibility of a third party, or were paid in error. Its customers include state and county Medicaid programs, Medicaid managed care plans, child support enforcement agencies, state prescription drug plans, and other public programs. HMS Holdings, through Reimbursement Services Group, Inc., works on behalf of public, voluntary, as well as profit hospitals to document services that qualify for reimbursement through Medicare cost reports and other government payment mechanisms. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in New York City.
What better ways to make money than by helping people manage their money? The chart is a thing of beauty and volume is growing steadily.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=HMSY
ININ bounced back a bit from last weeks beating, up 7% on average volume. It is a promising looking software stock caught in a shaky market.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ININ
DK did well today, as it approaches 20. Gas station/convenience stores are a good combination. Look how ALJ has done the past month and PTRY looked great until May. DK is in the same industry.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=1y&s=PTRY&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=alj
Diet company, MED, is getting spanked after hours. Maybe people are just eating less now because they can't afford to eat or drive to McDonald's. –
And remember to always drink upstream from the herd. – Will Rogers.
Genegene
The Snowcat is back! :o
08/15/06
Never miss a good chance to shut up. – Will Rogers
Or was that throw up? The market surged ahead on good inflation numbers and lower wholesale costs. The NYSE was up over 100 points on strong trading. I think the announcement was just done to coincide with the momentum from the Middle East cease fire. Wal-Mart announced their first drop in profit in a decade and home sales are declining.
There were nice gains in GOOG, AAPL WFMI and some other high end stocks while some small cap favorites like SIMC and MED got the tanning of their lives on a 10q delay for SIMC and good earnings for MED!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=simc+med
"When I saw some beached whale in a bikini sitting by the side of the pool, pulling out a tube of suntan lotion that was lodged in her belly-button, I knew it was time to short Med" - said astute investor, Dick Trickle.
TPTH, a cancer detection imaging company which was falling like a stone the last month got a buy-out offer and jumped 72%! Why if I bought yesterday and sold today, I would have been rich, rich, rich!!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tpth
OCN continues its climb past 15 with a small, but steady gain; while DK and HMSY gave back some of yesterday's gains.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=ocn+dk+cib+hmsy
HSOA (formerly HOM) had a big gain this morning, but gave it all up when word got out on a new Stocklemon report. These things are killers:
This morning Stocklemon reviews the latest earnings report from Home Solutions (NASDAQ:HSOA). This company is due some additional scrutiny following a major PR misrepresentation Stocklemon discovered earlier this year.
Now they have issued guidance claiming 300% more revenues are coming the 2nd half of the year than they booked in the first half. Wait until you see who their largest single customer is. Meanwhile, share expansion is running far ahead of any other metric.
Rollups are popular on the street and at the deli counter. But in both contexts, buyers need to be sure what quality of ingredients are rolled up inside.
Cautious investing to all.
PS For those of you who were short Medifast (MED) based on a Stocklemon report, nice going, but at these prices after yesterdays earnings the stock is looking cheap. They just got accepted for listing on the NYSE and we believe the stock is overreacting today to the downside...good luck.
That's all for today, tomorrow, a new stock find (if I find one). Snowster
Welcome back Snowcat. That genegene guy didn't seem to have a clue what he what he was talking about ;) ;) I shorted MED @ 12.69. A day late but I think it goes to the 200 dma (10.42) before it bounces.
MED is headed for the NYSE shortly. At this price it is a good value. Do not hang around too long b4 taking profits.
Check out RTK one of my favorites that trades in a channel with a top at about 5.5.
A good story stock!
From Wealth Daily:
There is a Coal to Liquids bill that is going thru congress soon.
RTK has been inching up
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=RTK&t=5d
America's roadmap to energy independence begins in the next few weeks. I'm referring to US Senate Bill 3325 and US House Bill 5778.
You can find the full text of these bills on the Library of Congress THOMAS search engine.
Now, you probably haven't heard much talk about these bills. But trust me, you will.
That's because these bills, if passed, could literally break America's dependence on foreign oil once and for all.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we'll break our foreign oil addiction over night. I think it'll take some years. In fact, we think the US is experiencing an epic energy transformation. We're leaving the age of oil and entering into a new era.
And that new era starts with the passage of these bills.
You see, House Bill 5778 is titled the Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Energy Act of 2006... and Senate Bill 3325 is titled Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2006.
What is coal-to-liquid (CTL)?
In short, coal can be converted into liquid fuels like gasoline or diesel. One of the CTL techniques is the Fischer Tropsch. It was used in Nazi Germany, and for many years by Sasol in South Africa because, in both cases, those regimes were politically isolated and unable to purchase crude oil on the open market.
So they converted coal into liquid fuel to run their automobiles.
Given that the US has abundance of coal reserves, developing a coal-to-liquid infrastructure makes perfect sense.
And everybody wants a piece of it. Including the US government. It's easy to see why.
With over 270 billion tons of proven coal reserves, the United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal. If the United States converts just 5 percent of its estimated recoverable coal reserves, it would be equivalent to the 29 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in the United States.
Speaking in front of reporters, Senator Conrad Burns from coal-rich Montana said... "This legislation gives us independence from foreign sources of fuel, it ensures that our national security and that our military will have the fuel they need..."
Both of these bills are up for vote in the coming weeks. With the American public livid over rising energy costs, we believe these bills will pass with overwhelming majorities.
When these bills pass, the stock of a tiny $4.75 coal-to-liquid company headquartered in Denver, Colorado is going to skyrocket.
This is the same company whose CEO spoke in front of Congress last May. I have to believe that what he said had a major influence on lawmakers.
Out of all his testimony, here's the passage that I think sealed the deal:
"The company has developed a five-point strategy for commercialization...
We are aggressively pursuing multiple strategic projects in the US, with the goal of getting plants up and running at several sites very quickly. Third, we are developing a repeatable and scalable design that allows for expansion of production up to 50,000 bpd per plant that will provide for a very rapid expansion of the industry once the first plants are operational and proved out."
If each state in the Union had 3 to 4 CTL plants, we could nearly eliminate all foreign oil. In fact, the US has roughly 2,778 power plants. If half of those were CTL plants, we could produce 69 million barrels of liquid fuel every day.
That's why we're advising our traders to buy the company's stock now. I would like to personally invite you to participate with us in this trade.
If you're interested in buying this $4.75 CTL stock, go here: http://wealthdailymail.com/cntdir.asp?num=907
08/16/06
Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco. – Will Rogers.
The Market was up about 100 points again for the 2nd straight day as investors have their rose colored glasses on. Word is that things are looking good for the economy and the Fed does not plan to raise rates again in September. Go figure.
After MED took a spill yesterday due to great, but not amazingly great, earnings (it is due to be listed on the NYSE soon, too), another IBD 100 name got rocked. Scoreboard maker, DAKT, fell almost 30%. The reason: earnings. Do not hold through earnings. Good or bad, it will probably hurt.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=dakt
There is a bill in the Senate called the "Coal to Fuel Energy Act", as mentioned in "Wealth Daily, today. http://www.wealthdaily.net/ America has plenty of coal, and with the shortage of oil; it is worth looking into this process. SSL has been using this process for years, but American companies SYNM and RTK may profit by it.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=rtk+synm
Some stocks I watch were up a bit today. Metal processors, ERS and SIM had some decent volume. While word is that China may be cutting back on copper imports.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=isig+ers+mikr+sim
Water stocks do not get much respect, but the root of much of the fighting in the Middle East has to do with water rights. The changes in the climate will have an impact too. There are many ways to invest – bottled water, water treatment systems, water resource management, water purification and infrastructure. Here are some to keep an eye on:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=ve+bmi+vmi+ttek+layn+mwa+wts
TTEK looks especially good.
A man who never trusts himself never trusts anyone. – Paul de Gondi, statesman
The market looks a little better, but be careful of earnings announcements! -Snowy
08/17/06
Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. – Will Rogers
The market leaped in the morning and calmed by the end of the day as earnings from HP and a drop in oil prices helped the market maintain its brief rally. If things improve, the Fed may have to raise rates to slow things down. They can't let us have too much fun. The market is still in a downtrend, and though there are signs of life, do not dive into the market face first yet.
A few of my favorites continued to ride high. Tech Company, NVEC broke out from its slow upward trend and into 5th gear today with a 13% jump on huge volume. NVEC holds patents on a data memory system which is fast and economical – and could be a big step towards many technological advances. It was 60 a few years ago, came back to earth and is moving again.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nvec
Real estate owner and magazine distributor, AXR, is getting the best of its low float, up another 4%. This stock took a major dive with the rest of the market after a great review by Mr. Market – dropping almost 20 points, but has fought its way back.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=axr
Chinese medical company, CMED, which was also a fallen angel, was inching up until today's good earnings. The stock dropped but ended up in the green. The company has a process that battles cancer with ultra sound. GE has a nice stake in this one. "Guru" Mark Skouson is pumping this in his mailings (but does not reveal the name of it) ;D - (Chinese Man)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cmed
PVC pipe maker, PWEI, which was listed as a stock with high short interest two weeks ago, continued moving up with a 6% gain today on good volume. The company has a pe ratio of less than 5!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PWEI
Those pricey restaurants that were down have been up the past few days, along with pricey grocery store, WFMI. I guess people thing that the world is getting better. That is nice to know. :)
Another thing that is nice to know is that tomorrow is another day. Snowcat
(//)
08/18/06
The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put back in your pocket. – Will Rogers
OR BUY NVEC! WOW! SAY IT! I HIT A HOME RUN WITH THAT!!!
Yes it did have a good month. And it went up very fast. It may take a breather, but the potential is great. The stock was up another 13% today on 10x adv. When you see the volume increasing on a daily basis like with NVEC and HMSY, it is a sign that more money is flowing in!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NVEC
The other one that has been on fire is PVC pipe maker, PWEI. PVC is used in construction because it is plastic that does not corrode and is light, cheap and easy to work with. It can also be formed into lawn furniture.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=pwei
Many of my old stock flames flickered out, but I thought it might be good to look if there were any others that I liked that fell on hard times and may be ready for the upswing.
Optical cable maker FNSR has been slowly crawling out of its hole. This was a fast mover and a Cramer (remember him) favorite with a lot of potential, but stumbled in the fury of a rough market and got tossed aside like dirty laundry. This past week, it has been moving up on steady volume and looks like the momentum will continue.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=FNSR&t=1y
Defense contractor DRS looks like it has bottomed and is worth looking into. There is always demand for good military electronics somewhere in the world. The fundamentals look great and I think the chart will follow suit. I think the stock is worth another $5 to $10 in the next couple of months.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=drs
Oil Sands company, CWPC anounced that they are going to be the only such company listed on a major exchange! Up 15% today and should be on the AMEX soon.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cwpc.ob
The sun is shining brighter on Wall Street and hopefully it will be a prosperous September. Keep an eye out for good buy candidates and I will do the same.
Have a safe weekend. I'll hold your hand. Snowcat
hey Snowy - yeah you hit it out of the park with NVEC. Nice call! 8) Would have been a good one for the 3SoV portfolio. Several months ago Michael spoke very highly of it on your NVEC-Spintronics thread.
http://www.3stocksonfire.org/trading/index.php?topic=3423.msg42345#msg42345
Have a great weekend!
Thanks. sold 1000 this morning for about a $5k profit. It ran up very fast and seems to be cooling off. It is very volatile.
Oil is up today - look at ALY, which I like - it is breaking out and is a quality oil field co. And CWPC which is going on the AMEX soon - the only oli sands co on a major board!
And of course, my big DK!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=aly+dk+cwpc.ob+nvec
08/21/06
There are three kinds of men: the ones that learn by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves. – Will Rogers
After 5 straight days of gains, there was profit taking. Oil was up and everything else was down. That was the theme for today.
Here is a list of low priced low pe stocks from IBD. There is no proof that low pe stocks do any better than high pe stocks, but they have to fill in the spaces and people love lists.
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/pe082106.html
Tankers, insurance companies and oil service companies traditionally have low pe's, but two that stand out are ALY (up a dollar today) and DK.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ALY
Oil sands stock, CWPC.ob went with the oil flow today and with word that they will be listed on the AMEX shortly. If you want to play the oil sands, this will be a good bet for folks who want to trade on a major exchange. With the energy concerns we have, expect this company and the oil sands to get major attention.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cwpc.ob+
Coal may be one of out major sources of energy independence and I expect to see RTK with their coal-to-fuel process getting play too.
Invest smartly, and as Mark Twain says: When in doubt, tell the truth.
Snow
08/22/06
No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously. – Dave Barry
The market was steady as no one knew what to do. Brokers and analysts were seen running in circles on Broad Street because there were no new wars, Iran was quiet, and oil remained unchanged for the most part.
An article in today's IBD expressed how accumulation precedes a breakout. Increasing volume in a stock's trading pattern is a sign that the institutions like the stock and are bidding it up.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/060821/corner.html
Look at the increasing volume on HMSY, NVEC and NUHC.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=NUHC&t=1y
NUHC is a distributor of electronic components. Earnings growth in the past 3 quarters has been 167%, 1000% and 467%. Sales growth has accelerated from 8% to 27% to 44% to 55%.
The volume has also been picking up on IAAC. This financial services company has broken out the past few days and the volume has been about 6x normal. The company features top numbers and a hot chart.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=IAAC&t=6m
One chart that has caught my attention is TYL. They provide integrated it management svs and software for cities, counties, schools and other government entities. Nice growth, nice chart and the vol. is slow and picking up.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=TYL
I hope you find something you like. PWEI and DK were big hits again today and CMED turned into a big flop. These are some I have been watching:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=dk+cib+pwei+nvec+pyr+brvo.ob+axr+fnsr+ctcm+gigm+cam+hmsy+nfi+nga+grow+drs
Stay alert; it looks like the market is getting back on its feet! – I'll hold your hand and we'll make money together. - Snowcat
NUHC was picked by Ramsburg. I did not realize it. Check out his analysis on the great potential of this stock.
Volume should start picking up significantly after Labor Day. It could be exciting.
BTJ is one I am watching today. They do seismic exlploration. With the rush to find new oil reserves, it is one to keep an eye on. Good financial numbers, low vol, choppy chart.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=BTJ
08/23/06
Take out the fortune before you eat the cookie. – Dave Barry
The market was down due to low housing numbers. I guess the glut of houses that are out there are not going to need repairs, new furniture, refinancing, gardening, appliances etc......Interest rates are rising and getting a loan might be tougher and it will have an impact on the industry. And so, the stock market is down.
Also down was IAAC, taking a dive for some unknown reason on high volume. It is on my watch list. I unloaded the few shares I had of MED and GV at a loss and my shares of CIB at a 19% gain (it was 29%).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=IAAC
NVEC took off again today as spintronics seemed to spin out of control. The stock was up 11% on massive volume, blowing past 30. This is the pattern the stock took when it hit 60 a few years ago as the volume gradually rose. People think this is the future of technology. It may be something to take a closer look at.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nvec
BTJ, BOLT, is bolting on high vol.
it is headed to the IBD 100 based on the #s and it broke 15 yesterday. It is off today's high, so might have went up on the IBD anticipation and the pe is a bit high compared to DWSN which is in the same business.
They do seismic oil exploration.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=btj
I think the stock market will improve with the return of fall. There are too many good stocks that have fallen to the side and there will be plenty of money available to fill in those gaps.
I have a friend who collects children's lunch boxes and I think often about what Dave Barry says, "There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
My thoughts exactly.
Thanks, and now, "The Rolling Stones". Snowy-snowpants
08/24/06
More Americans can name the Three Stooges than the three branches of government. Well, that's because the Three Stooges are more likely to get something done. – David Letterman
The stock market was a bit in the green today. Apple recalled a lot of laptop batteries, new home sales decreased and oil prices rose.
BTJ was up $1 as the surging profits of this seismic geology company have been attracting attention. It will get more attention as it seems a sure thing for the IBD 100 this weekend. Looking for new economical ways to explore for oil is in fashion right now.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=btj
Diet company, MED, which I sold yesterday (all 100 shares); I ended up buying back this morning. I hate that. But the price was moving up fast on good volume and finished up over 10%. Stocklemon, which likely shorted it when they said it was overpriced, probably bought it up at yesterday's low b4 saying it was a good buy this morning. The stock's move to the NYSE is widely anticipated!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ecn?s=MED
Alan Ray reported that a Japanese tanker in the Indian Ocean spilled 4500 tons of oil. Experts from leading refineries have been rushed to the scene to examine whether or not they can raise prices
NVEC which had a high short interest b4 it jumped to over 30 dropped today on heavy volume – but made a nice recovery. It looks like the demand for this stock will continue.
HMSY dropped to support and bounced back up. This may look like a good point to get into this company that does audit work for Medicare.
My kid's camp is ending tomorrow, so I have to get the counselor's tips in order. For some reason I think they will appreciate cash more than a slip of paper with the words HMSY though.
Best regards, Snowy
08/25/06
You should not confuse your career with your life. – Dave Barry
The Fed Chairman spoke without saying anything and the markets remained unimpressed. The NYSE was down a bit.
NVEC took the day to fall over 10% on news that the company is likely expecting a lot from a patent infringement suit. The stock has a high short position which it overcame last week. I guess it was not so lucky today. It was due for a correction after its big run.
13:17 NVEC NVE Corp: SmartMoney runs article on NVEC discussing recent gains, questioning potential FSL licensing pact (27.75 -3.37) -Update-
SmartMoney.com publishes an article on NVEC saying shares of the co surged 137% from a 52-week low of $13.05 set on June 13 to Wednesday's 52-week high of $30.90. The article says most of that gain has come since July 19, when NVE's CEO, Dan Baker, announced during a conference call to discuss quarterly earnings that his co could be due a big payday from Freescale Semiconductor (FSL). Baker implied that the nation's No. 3 chip maker might be infringing on several of NVE's patents. The article states that NVEC already stands accused of promising more than it can deliver, noting a class-action lawsuit filed in February on behalf of disgruntled investors alleges the company made "material misrepresentations..." With 22% of NVE's float of 4.25 million shares currently sold short, a lot of people are betting the CEO's hope of signing a lucrative licensing pact with Freescale won't come to fruition. They say the co has a forward price/earnings multiple of 36.7, more than twice the industry average, and says its a clear sign to them to stay away from the stock until the promise of licensing revenue becomes reality.
Seismic geology company, BTJ, had another good day, up 4.5% on big volume, but was off its high. The expectations are that it should finish in the top 10 of the IBD 100 to give it added exposure. Many stocks like this fall on the Monday after the IBD 100 listing. We will see if this stock is for real.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=btj
GV came out with good earnings and was up 13% after I sold it. OCN and NFI fell on word that home lenders will be hurting with a decrease in new home sales.
I am tempted by oil sands co., BQI, but it has been volatile. It is the only such co listed on the AMEX (formerly CWPC).
TYL is getting exposure in IBD, but the volume is unimpressive. The chart is nice. ALY has been having a great run, but it has just started taking off. The Oil service company had some great earnings recently. Gold appears to be cycling, this time down, though the chart of IAG is looking great. Buying gold and buying a gold stock are two different animals – both have their own advantages/disadvantages.
Tomorrow I am pumped up for the Mets game, I got some great seats. Despite the Mets pitching falling apart, they seem to be overcoming it. As Yogi Berra says: Great pitching beats great hitting, and visa versa.
Enjoy the weekend with me! Snow.
08/28/06
The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers. – Dave Barry
The big storm did not hit the Gulf, so oil prices fell and stocks rose.
BTJ hit the IBD 100, and with it, some profit taking. The numbers still look good, but let us see where it settles. The stock was down 9% today on heavy volume after a great run.
DK fell on interest rates rising in Israel, where the company is headquartered.
NVEC surged forward again after Friday's drop. I can easily see this becoming an investor's darling again.
Oil field service stock, ALY, broke out today, up 7% on strong volume. The stock is looking very good and building a nice chart.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=nvec+btj+aly
Cool cat likes CHINA, RNWK AND BRCM. I added some CHINA to my portfolio along with a little more ALY and a bit of MPW. MPW is a medical REIT with an 8% dividend and a great chart.
HMSY was up 5% on good volume and continues to look good.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=china+rnwk+brcm+hmsy+nuhc+mpw
LBIX had a massive bo! All it needs is a bit of volume!!
Here is a list of IBD's top 10 stocks with accelerated earnings:
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/accelerate082806.html
Morningstar has an article out on three good looking gambling stocks you should roll the dice on:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ms/060828/172390.html
Remember, you do not have to buy stocks until you are comfortable with the market. I know men who would wake up one morning, find they have no clean shirts, and rush to Kohl's to buy 10 new shirts so that never happens again. I know men who do the same with stocks. Take your time and purchase a stock you are happy with – and do not convince yourself you are happy with it. Let you balance sheet tell you when you are happy. Beginning in September, losses over 8% will not be tolerated by the administrator.
That's me, Mr. Snowcat!
08/29/06
If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings." – Dave Barry
I was thinking of renaming this site from "3 Stocks on Fire" to "3 Lukewarm Stocks That Might Go Up."
The stock market was unsure of where to go today as the Fed admitted they did not know what was going on in the world.
Oil prices were down a bit again and this may be having an impact on stocks like DK. Refineries make money when gas prices are high. Yes, they are high, but they were higher. Also interest rates seem to be rising in Israel which will take a bite of DK's profits. Fortunately, DK has the gas stations and convenience stores to help it maintain its stock price a bit. The stock fell bad early, but bounced somewhat off the low. This is not a time to buy it. My profit on the stock fell from 30% to about 19%, so I took it and left.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DK
I also sold OCN at a 9% loss. It was down as much as 12% today. I knew they were a high risk lender with a lot of pending lawsuits regarding their business style. I knew the bad housing market would impact business, I loved the chart.
They were downgraded today and probably rightfully so. I should not only look at the chart, but look at the business itself.
BTJ made a nice recovery on good volume from its recent fall. I like this company and think it will gain momentum. I think part of yesterday's sell off was due to the IBD 100 factor.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=btj
Here is a good article on HMSY from IBD. This stock has a great chart and great business:
There's Plenty Of Business In Government Inefficiency
http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/060828/general01.html?.v=1
A recent IPO to keep an eye on is HWCC, a cable company. So far it is a nice chart with good numbers. This is one to keep an eye on.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HWCC&t=3m
LBIX continued up and looks bound to bounce back. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=lbix
AAPL had some interesting news this weekend. They are developing an I-Pod box for the TV! Just like an I-Pod can store thousands of songs (though I do not think there are more than 100 or so I would want to hear), this new product can download movies and store them on a set-top box. This is pretty neat. The stock is down on the news.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AAPL&t=5d
I think consumers are waiting for an I-Pod that can download an entire lifetime of joy directly into their brain while they sit in a catatonic state. Then they would be qualified to write daily stock market commentary. Snowdick
Snowcat you see that MPW action ;). Keeps on rolling on up nice new 52wk high again today ;D.
Null-
MPW appears to be a slow-but-sure gainer.
The medical field, you would think, is recession resistant, they are not making any more real estate (tho prices are coming down) and interest rates are going up - how these factors will impact the stock is anyone's guess.
I took a small position, comfortable with the dividend and the chart. But what do I know. I cornered the market in Beta-Max in 1984!
Tell all your friends to buy it so the price goes up. I need a winner after my boner with OCN!
Thanx Snowy
MPW is one of my top recommendations for a good strong long stock more resistant to recession.
YES MPW may well be a good long term hold, but not with a current entry! (what news is driving this run up?) NULZ you should put this on your short thread... deffinately over bought currently, 9 days up, RSI at 72 i see it testing support at 12.34 and lower in the next week or so... My trade is on paper as i am fully extended on my short positions currently. Remember Gravity exists in the stock world as well ;) Keep up the great posts (hopefully AAPL will feel some more tommorrow!)
Cheers Joe
08/31/06
Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night. – Dave Barry
Hey! Here are all the big movers and gainers for the day. Good night.
http://biz.yahoo.com/cbsm/060830/eacd7f4c395a47a287ee511fd1e98cb7.html
Oh! Not good enough for you? Well, the market was up a bit on reports that we have plenty of oil supplies (at least until the next Mid-East flair up, hurricane in the Gulf or broken pipeline).
My two castoffs from yesterday, DK and OCN were up a bit, but not yet back in the uptrend. It was reported that business in Israel is improving.
There was a great article in today's IBD on outsourcing company, PSPT. They are making acquisitions and growing rapidly. The chart looks great! And it is up on strong volume! http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=PSPT&t=1y - I own it.
Electronics Company, NUHC got a big order from Lockheed and jumped 8% today!
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060830/20060830005483.html?.v=1 I own it.
After yesterday's big article in IBD, HMSY got another good article by The Fool and jumped again. The chart is amazing – and the business, doing audits for Medicare and other govt. agencies is booming. This is my largest holding.
http://biz.yahoo.com/fool/060830/115696237517.html?.v=1
Recent IPO HWCC, which I said to watch yesterday, I watched go down. They are a supplier of cable and wires. I will continue watching them.
Optical subsystem provider (whatever that is), FNSR continues to recover. It was up 5% on nice volume. Now is time to look back at the stocks we cast off during the deluge that happened the first week of June. We will be more aggressive when it comes to taking profits, but I suspect the money will start flowing back into the stocks starting next week and as oil prices continue coming down. Suits will be coming back from the Hamptons, see all these stocks on sale, realize they have hardly any and go on a buying spree like a kid in a candy store.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=FNSR
Thank you, you've been great! You are the best reader so far this year. Snowy
08/31/06
People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them. – Dave Barry
The Market was unmoved today. But I did notice that since they have been giving hurricanes Spanish names, they have had no trouble getting into the country. (Jay Leno)
DK was up almost 5% today on good volume. Though the price of gas is falling, it looks like it is getting back in the groove!
Some highly shorted stocks to watch – PWEI, GES MFLX AND VOL
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=pwei+ges+mflx+vol
NVEC up on average volume 5%. I think this will pick up steam next week.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NVEC
ISIG up 8% on 3x adv. Maybe that is getting back on track. I believe many good stocks that have been down will emerge as fan favorites, like ISIG this Sept.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ISIG
Alternative energy company, RTK was up almost 5% as this company is bound to be in the spotlight with the coal to liquid fuel bill being passed around.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rtk
And SBUX reported decent sales, which should hopefully get this stock going.
I am happy because I am taking a long weekend. I will be off tomorrow and Tuesday. I will be seeing a pre-season NY Jets football game tomorrow (field seats), so that should be fun (if it does not rain), and spending the rest of the time with the family. I will come back well rested and ready to rock. If anyone has anything to comment on tomorrow, the floor is yours. Giant Snowballs-man!
09/06/06
If people don't want to come to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them? – Yogi Berra, baseball player
Productivity decreased and wages increased, not a rational combination. Fears of inflation loom and the markets dropped. The big oil find in the Gulf of Mexico (which should no impact our reserves for years) further gave reason for oil and energy stocks to fall.
Plastic pipe manufacturer, PWEI, got a good article in IBD today, but fell with much of the rest of the market.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/060905/newamer.html
NVEC which shot up 5 on Tuesday, hit 38 today b4 falling back. Here are the retracement numbers if you are interested:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NVEC
34.90 23% pullback
32.88% 38%
31.46 is the 50% pullback.
30.04 61%
28.02 76%
MED got killed over the weekend as Barron's said the stock was worth less than 9. I sold my few shares as soon as I saw the news as that was a self-fulfilling prophecy. FNSR also took a huge dive today and caused my profits in that one to vanish. And the lower oil prices have taken their toll on BQI, DK and ALY.
Lots of up to the minute information can be gotten from Yahoo In Play:
http://finance.yahoo.com/mp#ifo
One stock that had an incredible run the past few days is SYX. They are a marketer of desktop computers that had a huge profit surge this past quarter.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060830/systemax_mover.html?.v=1
I was looking for more positive economic news to continue yesterday's rally. There is a lot of fear and unresolved anger around as the anniversary of the 9-11 attacks approaches. This might put a damper on investing, and maybe rightly so. The terrorist attacks showed us how vulnerable the world is, and many people are still smarting from the hits their investment portfolios took at that time.
Stay safe and strong. Snowy
09/07/06
Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life. – Herbert Henry Asquith
The stock markets were lower as homebuilders said that inventories were growing. Houses will sell, but not at the prices they were a year ago – that makes for growing inventories as sellers have trouble lowering their prices.
Someone I know just bought a house listed in Florida at $267,000, for $190,000. This is not a sellers market (especially during Florida's stormy season).
So if you are making less money on the sale of your home, you have less money to gamble.....er....invest in the market. I just saw the movie, "Two for the Money", with Al Pacino on HBO. It is about a gambling advisory service. You will see a lot of similarities to the internet stock advisory services and it is scary (not the movie, the fact that folks will place big bets based on someone's opinion of a football game/stock)
http://www.twoforthemoney.net/
Speaking of gambling, online Mah Jongg Company, GIGM broke out of a funk with a 15% gain on 5x adv! "Patience is important" is an old Mah Jongg saying. (I also like "remove fortune b4 you eat cookie").
The portfolio stunk pretty badly today with several stocks teetering on their support lines. Good stocks like NUHC are showing signs of weakness while favorites like AAPL surged ahead to good gains.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=NUHC&t=1y
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AAPL&t=5d
Nano Company, NVEC dropped back to 30 ish on Wednesday and broke loose again today to hit $38!!!!!!! On about 12x adv!!!!! When I saw it bouncing back this morning, I dove back in. The pattern is similar to its performance in January, 2004 when it hit 60!!
If I had an advisory service, I would tell you to buy a few shares and ride the wave. It is volatile, but it is getting a lot of attention!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=NVEC&t=5y
And computer seller, SYX, had another good day, up another 4% on 4x adv.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SYX
Cool cat likes these guys, CNST looks interesting:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=bits+fuel+clec+usey+cnst
I hear so many complaints about the invasive security in the airports, but if you don't like it, don't fly. Hey, it's a free country, you can drive, swim, buy your own plane, and there is no rule that you have to fly to get where you want to go.
Be careful out there, Christmas Snowcat.
09/08/06
"I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I require the same from them". – John Wayne as J.B. Books in "The Shootist"
The markets stood a little taller today as oil prices dipped again and investors shrugged off more bad news on large housing inventories.
Cool cat pick, GROW, grew its numbers substantially and shot up 10% on good volume. The company manages mutual funds. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GROW
ISIG inched up 5% and is showing higher lows on its chart. This is also a Cool cat pick along with beverage company, LBIX.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ISIG&t=1y
Clothing store, JOSB, had good sales numbers and showed some signs of life the past two days. This stock has been beaten to rags. Now that every department store is selling suits, I am surprised that they are coming back. In the old days, I remember going into a suit store, they would give me a 42 jacket for my massive shoulders – then give me the matching size 36 pants. The problem was, that I had a 30" waist and they had to alter the pants to the point that the rear pockets were on top of each other! If I tried to mix and match the correct jacket and pants, they would take me to the dressing room and beat me with hangers. When I discovered department store "separates" – where you pick out the pants and jacket size you want, it made my life complete! I never went into a suit store again. So there! http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=JOSB&t=1y
Alternative Energy Company, AENS.ob mentioned in Mike Schaeffer's Energy Report was up almost 20% on 3x adv. He thinks it is great. It has been falling for the past few weeks and is a new issue. Do your DD, or check out his site.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AENS.OB
Medical companies ABAX and BLUD are looking interesting as investors are moving their money out of energy stocks. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=abax+blud
That's all. There will be lots of memorials this weekend for the victims and heroes who died in the 9-11 terrorist attacks. On that note, here is one more quote from John Wayne to the bad guys that will take care of any situation:
"And now you understand. Anything goes wrong, anything at all...your fault, my fault, nobody's fault...it won't matter – I'm gonna blow your head off. No matter what else happens, no matter who gets killed, I'm gonna blow your head off" – John Wayne as Big Jake Mc Candles in "Big Jake".
Now I feel better. Stay safe. Snowcat
09/11/06
The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it. – Welsh proverb
Today, 9/11 makes me think of how fragile life is and how it is important to enjoy it now.
Oil dropped again, but had only a mild impact on the markets. Stocks were barely up.
Two oil related stocks had monster days – both involved in the oil pipeline business.
MFRI had big numbers this past quarter (while prices of oil were high) and NSS had a buyout offer! You never know!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=nss+mfri
Wheel maker, HAYZ, rolled off big numbers and fitness product maker ANGN showed some muscle with a big profit for the first time and a 109% gain!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=hayz+angn
Electronics maker, NUHC, fell again, down a dollar and HMSY looks like it is moving back to 15. Online gaming company GIGM is back in forward motion with another good gain. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gigm
The market is picking and choosing today. There is a lot of money being pulled out of energy stocks, and other commodity related stocks too. It has to go someplace – hopefully not under the mattress. Stay safe out there - Snowy
========================================================
A married couple went to the hospital to have their
baby delivered. Upon their arrival, the doctor said he
had invented a new machine that would transfer a
portion of the mother's labor pain to the baby's
father. He asked if they were willing to try it out.
They were both very much in favor of it. The doctor
set the pain transfer to 10% for starters,explaining
that even 10% was probably more pain than the father
had ever experienced before. However, as the labor
progressed, the husband felt fine and asked the doctor
to go ahead and kick it up a notch. The doctor then
adjusted the machine to 20% pain transfer. The
husband was still feeling fine. The doctor checked the
husband's blood pressure and was amazed at how well he
was doing. At this point, they decided to try for
50%.The husband continued to feel quite well. Since
the pain transfer was obviously helping out the wife
onsiderably, the husband encouraged the doctor to
transfer ALL the pain to him. The wife delivered a
healthy baby with virtually no pain. She and her
husband were ecstatic.
When they got home, the mailman
was dead on the porch.
09/12/06
It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish. – JRR Tolkien
Oh my goodness! U.S. Trade deficit reaches an all time high, the chair of HP steps down due to scandal, Goldman is up and oil is down. I guess that equals a big gain for the markets. I might as well be reading tea leaves.
Nano-Tech Company, NVEC, seems to have had a downgrade which caused a 9% drop in price today. But this stock has major swings every week and they are not exactly a blue chip company to begin with. This stock is for investors who can dream about technological breakthroughs – the same way people once looked at GOOG, MSFT, DRIV etc......
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NVEC
Men's clothing store, JOSB, was up another dollar. Maybe men like to go into stores where they are not distracted by other merchandise. Maybe they have Monday Night Football games playing all day and a free beer stand. Maybe they have pretty women who complement you on the clothes you pick out and encourage men to buy more. It is a great concept. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=JOSB&t=1y
Outsourcing Service Company, PSPT, which looks like one of the best, is up 8% on good volume. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PSPT
Computer vendor, SYX hit a new high after a great week. It is in a competitive business but has had great results last quarter.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SYX&t=3m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
High yield lender, NFI jumped $2 after a short drought. The lender got hurt with other mortgage lenders, but just acquired a new mortgage company that should add to the bottom line. The stock has a yield of 19%!!!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NFI
Purple Hayz - Wheel maker up 21% - Yahoo has a target of 15!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hayz
Starbucks was up about a dollar today. I own the Oct $32.50 calls bought at 30ish.
With all the money I'm saving on gas, I might as well treat myself to a Latte!
(Why is it called a Latte? Because it costs a Latte!)
Enjoy - Snowy
09/13/06
Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing. – Denis Waitley, motivational speaker.
Stocks were higher as oil bounced back after 7 days of losses, so many of those energy stocks perked up a bit.
NVEC had a downgrade, fell, and bounced back into the green. I am sticking with my shares. I still think this can do 40 on a good day. It has a lot going for it – nano, technology, and thousands of investors who think this can be the next big breakthrough.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nvec
Pipe and filtration company, MFRI, has been building volume slowly. It has been gaining ground, but with the relatively low amount of shares out there, it could be volatile.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mfri
Surging forward on good volume were JOSB, NFI GIGM GROW and ANGN
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=josb+nfi+gigm+grow+angn
GIGM was featured in today's IBD, stocks in the news.
SBUX inched ahead adding price to the Oct call options. Call options are also available on JOSB, NFI is yielding about 19% and GIGM seems to have an up day followed by a down day recently.
Some nice charts I have been watching are SIMG, a maker of transmitters for the next generation of DVD players and HDTV, DEIX, a car audio/security company with rising EPS. And Tech co, PRFT, these 3 look headed for the IBD 100 with a little luck.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=DEIX+PRFT+SIMG
Another good quality stock to watch is CWTR – also featured in IBD today. They are bouncing back from the summer slump and forming a cup with a handle. They sell women's casual clothing and their numbers are solid!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CWTR&t=1y
Two solid days in a row does not a rally make, but there is always a place in your portfolio for strong stocks in a good chart.
Do something nice for someone today. Oprah loves you. Snowy
Women are evil:
A woman and a man are involved in a car accident on a snowy, cold Monday morning; it's a bad one.
Both of their cars are totally demolished but amazingly neither of them are hurt. God works in Mysterious ways.
After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "So you're a man.
That's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars!
There's nothing left, but we're unhurt.
This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days".
Flattered, the man replies, "Oh yes, I agree with you completely, this must be a sign from God!"
The woman continues, "And look at this, here's another miracle.
My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break.
Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune."
Then she hands the bottle to the man.
The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman.
The woman takes the bottle and immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back to the man.
The man asks, "Aren't you having any?"
The woman replies, "No. I think I'll just wait for the police...."
09/15/06
I didn't get where I am by thinking about it or dreaming about it. I got there by doing it. – Estee Lauder, entrepreneur
The markets were trying to do it today, with a slight gain. Oil dropped again and Ford fired another 10,000 and closed two plants. I hope you stayed safe.
IBD says you can safely earn 15% a year with ETFs. Who wants to try?
http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/060913/etf.html
The Wealth Daily pick, AENS.ob was up another 28% today. It is an alternative energy company with no product as far as I can see, but what do I know? Do I have X-ray vision?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AENS.OB&t=3m
Another pick by them is MMCN, up 9% today. I still cannot see the value. Maybe if I get a stethoscope, it may be worth looking into. (They are also big on the commodities, and they have been ill of late.)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MMCN.OB&t=3m
My SBUX calls looked good as the stock hit 34. Once I hit 100% on these, I am out! Way too volatile for me (but nice when they are volatile UP)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=sbux
I like the formation of the chart on CWTR, an excellent performer and I think the chart is saying 30 – which can be a nice gain on some Oct calls.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CWTR&t=1y
SYNM, maker of a synthetic fuel from natural gas and methane shot up today as they got an ok to test some of the fuel in a B-52 fighter plane. A good test can have a great impact on the company. SYNM was up 19%.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060915/20060915005325.html?.v=1
Keep thinking of ways to make it big in this market, and I will do the same. Snowster
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
joke for the weekend
Three women die together in an accident
and go to heaven.
When they get there, St. Peter says, "We only have one rule here in heaven: don't step on the ducks!"
So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one.
Well, the Gates open and Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw.
St. Peter chains them together and says, "Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!"
The next day, the second woman steps accidentally on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.
The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps.
She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on ... very tall, long eyelashes, muscular, and thin.
St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.
The happy woman says, "I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?"
The guy says, "I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!"
09/18/06
"October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February." -- Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894)
NY Times says that lower oil prices should hurt the economy. We will have fewer reasons to look for oil alternatives. Oil prices are still high enough for the oil countries and the big oil companies to be making a lot of $$$. So in respect of a good economy, oil was up a buck and the market was flat.
Chinese telecom XING was up 12%, mutual fund company, GROW, grew a bit more today, up almost a dollar, NVEC is the nano-monster, jumping 10%, back up to 38 and JOSB inched up another .66, helping those call options. Mystery energy stock, AENS.ob, defied gravity again, up 12%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=xing+grow+nvec+aens.ob+josb
Alternative energy company, SYNM, was up 8% after Friday's big jump. The company has great technology, but is far from profitable.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=synm
GIGM continued to show that it is not a gamble, up 5% again today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gigm
Do not forget to keep stops tight in this market. Do not let a loss get out of hand.
Your pal, Snowcat.
09/19/06
I want to get a tattoo over my whole body – but taller. Steven Wright
The stock markets were spooked today by a coup in Thailand. Yahoo dropped big on sour reports for next quarter and oil dropped 2 bucks.
There is nothing much else going on. In IBD, there is talk of the obvious: managers dropping oil stocks and buying technology. Investors who were heavy into the energy sector are nursing their wounds now. Market gurus who were yapping about $100/barrel oil now have as much credibility as those who said GOOG was going to $600.
But next week may be different.
Hold tight for a while, even the pros have been having a tough time in this market. They are, however, looking for story stocks. In the meanwhile, there are many good buys out there waiting to be found and scooped up. Eugene
09/20/06
My wife will buy anything marked down. Last year she bought an escalator. – Henny Youngman
The only thing marked down today, was the price of oil – down another dollar. The Fed kept interest rates the same.
Back from the dead was ORCL, which has done nothing for years. They announced some good numbers and the stock surged 11% on massive volume!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=orcl
Other former favorites that are back in vogue are tech companies like MOT. Growing cell phone use and acquisitions are making the stock price rise.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mot
And with more interest in tech, takeovers and mergers should arise – like FSL had a buyout offer last week and is still going strong!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=fsl
Clothing store, JOSB hit 30 today and SBUX was also up a dollar. I am up almost 100% on the SBUX and 60% on the JOSB Oct. calls.
Clothing stores, AEOS, ANF and ZUMZ look like they will continue to climb despite $150 jeans. (I don't understand it either, but high school kids NEED these clothes.)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=josb+cwtr+sbux+aeos+anf+zumz
SYNM had good results using their fuel in a B-52 fighter and was up a bit today. One of their problems is producing large quantities of the Syn-fuel. But if they can, LOOK OUT!
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060919/20060919006154.html?.v=1
Until tomorrow, yours forever, Snow
09/21/06
I asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?" She said, "Somewhere I have never been!" I told her, "How about the kitchen?" – Henny Youngman
Stocks fell sharply Thursday after the Philadelphia Federal Reserve surprised Wall Street by announcing that its broadest measure of manufacturing activity fell to a negative reading for the first time since April 2003, renewing investor fears that the economy could be cooling too quickly.
I printed that verbatim because I am not sure what it means. I do know that I was happier with my stock prices in the morning than in the afternoon.
Boxing/fitness Company, EVST got a boost today when word spread that they were coming out with an energy drink. They have a great brand name and should take advantage of it. The chart is choppy and the stock is thin though.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EVST&t=6m
Mystery alternative energy company, AENS.ob, showed good energy rising almost 8%. The company has no product, but the chart looks nice. Do not be a bag holder.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AENS.OB&t=3m
On the same note, MMC energy was up 9%. Go figure.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MMCN.OB&t=3m
The pricey teen clothing stores I liked yesterday went on sale today with ANF getting a $2 price cut. Better to gamble your money on something like GIGM, up another 3%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GIGM&t=1y
PSPT, the outsourcing company, rose 8% for no particular reason. This company has earnings and a good looking future. Like that matters.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=PSPT&t=1y
Computer seller SYX continues to rise in price and seems headed to the IBD 100 as it crashed through 15. There may be a sell off tomorrow or Monday as sly investors set traps for the IBD 100 maniacs.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SYX&t=3m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
Cool cat picks, BITS and USEY looked good today, bouncing out of their slumps with good gains today. Cool cat is an investment newsletter with a great track record.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=bits+fuel+clec+usey+cnst
I was hit with drops in NVEC and PWEI, but I have small positions and will be patient on both. One popular newsletter basically called NVEC's MRAM product "Witchcraft",
which I would still prefer to their recent oil and gold recommendations.
Stay Mean, for I am, Snowy
09/22/06
Sincerity is everything. If you fake that, you've got it made. – George Burns
It seems the last few days of good returns was a fake out as investors realized that the economy is really in a funk despite oil prices dropping again.
Today showed some big drops on solid companies. This is not a good sign.
Big swingers for the day were Canadian software maker, COGN, frozen food maker, FZN, and pricey shoe maker GCO. They all rose on good numbers. Drug company, OSCI rose on a possible FDA approval of their pneumonia drug. Everything else fell.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=osci+fzn+cogn+gco
"Alternative Energy Stock", AENS.ob rose almost another 8% on magic energy. But today I hear they were thinking of a product, or saw one on a Star Trek rerun that looked good. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AENS.OB&t=3m
Some top performers got hit hard: GROW -10%, PSPT -6% ON A DOWNGRADE, SYX down 11% after the IBD maniacs rushed in to push it above 15 and PWEI and NVEC looked bad today.
Cool cat pick, software maker, BITS, was up another 10% today, following up on yesterday's breakout.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=bits
Have a healthy, prosperous and safe New Year.
http://www.danmeth.com/shofaridol.htm
Big Snowy
09/25/06
I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon. – Ellen DeGeneres, funny person.
The market was very rough in the morning, and then the Fed Chairman said that inflation will not be as bad as he thought because oil prices are coming down, so the market woke up. Oil dropped another dollar a barrel. Tobacco stocks dropped as a judge allowed a class action suit against them.
NVEC bounced off the 50 day moving average. I think there was a large short interest in the stock which pushed the price down. A 10% swing in this stock is nothing as it is very volatile. There was and article in this month's "Business 2.0", a business magazine. The article was about the "Disruptors" – people who dramatically changed the way the world did business – like Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison. Spintronics can make a dramatic change in how computers and technology operate – saving tons of money in energy costs and speeding up the flow of information. I am $8 off the high, but am hanging on to this one.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=NVEC&t=5d&l=on&z=m&q=l&p=m50&a=&c=
HMSY, the company that audits the books of Medicare and other govt. entities let me down big time as it continues to fall. I was wrong on this one for the time being and took a 9% loss. When the chart straightens up (which should be soon, now that I sold it) I will rethink the strategy.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=hmsy
The top performers continued to perform – AAPL is getting closer to 80! Up over $2!
PSPT up another 4%! Outsourcing is a key component of our society now and this is one of the better ones. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=PSPT&t=1y
SYX was down bad after Friday's beating, but finished almost even. Indian auto builder, TTM has recovered, unlike its American counterparts who have gotten so big, they can no longer adapt. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=syx+ttm
Semiconductor Company, SIMG, got back in its up trend with a 4% gain.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SIMG&t=6m
The clothing stores, ANF, which the kids love, had a good day and I am a big fan of the chart of ZUMZ, which sells outfits to the skateboarding set.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=jsb+cwtr+sbux+aeos+anf+zumz
And Chinese telephone company, XING, is a Kung Fu monster, up another 8%!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xing
PWEI and HMSY were really downers, "But aside from that Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?"
Right. Let's look for better days ahead. Snore-cat
09/26/06
If God is your co-pilot, maybe you should change seats. – Seen on a bumper sticker
Investors had more confidence today as the market continued its uptrend. Oil prices were lower today.
The strong stocks stayed strong as AAPL and popular kids clothing stores, ANF and AEOS were up about a dollar. My October calls are showing some good green finally.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=aapl+anf+aeos
Computer seller SYX up a buck as it fights to make it onto the IBD 100 list.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=syx+ttm
Fous found this stock a week ago. He calls it the perfect chart. I have no idea what they do, but perfect chart!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MNCS.OB&t=6m
Plastic pipe maker, PWEI is beyond getting killed. It bounced up $2 from its 50dma and with a PE of about 4; I cannot see it staying down there for long. It sucks moose ass!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=PWEI&t=6m
right at the 50dma (or is that the 32 1/2 day ma?)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=PWEI&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&p=m50&a=&c=
Optics maker, FNSR has been kicking butt since I sold it!
Probably time to buy HMSY too. That was up today; naturally
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=FNSR
South American electric utility, ENI, showed up in the IBD stocks in the news and sports a pretty chart. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ENI
Honda is working on a hydrogen powered car. Hydrogen is a byproduct of water, hence, cheap and available. The car will come with a machine that you keep in your garage to produce the hydrogen. Ford and GM, who worked hard to put the electric trolleys out of business by replacing them with gas guzzling busses, continue to focus on building trucks and SUV's. Go figure.
I look forward to going out today with my renewed economic confidence. Snowplow
09/27/06
I once wanted to save the world – now I just want to leave the room with some dignity. – Lotus Weinstock, comedian
The market reached new highs and the blue-chips of the month continued to do well.
I was watching Jim Cramer's Mad Money last night, because this is his type of market. Good stocks that have been beaten down are emerging from their cocoons. He mentioned bio-tech firm, DNA, which was up $3. Was it worth a $3 rise or did his pump cause it to go up? Either way, it was good if you had it.
Cramer did his magic with new issue DIVX. DivX is a video code created by DivX, Inc. (formerly DivXNetworks, Inc.), which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality. Cramer said not to buy it early, but the stock finished in first place for the day, up almost 20%!!!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=hayze+syx+tnl+divx+dna+wal+hh+nstc+psmt+q+hmsy+nuhc+josb+nfi+gigm+grow+angn+pspt+bits+simg+cwtr+sbux+zumz
Some Cool cat pix had awesome days – BITS and CLEC were up over 11% each on great volume. CLEC was in a coma until Fous from the 3 Stocks on Fire board gave it his highest recommendation and it blasted out of its base. BITS is having an awesome month with not sign of slowing up.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=bits+clec+able
PSMT is like a BJ's or a Costco store, offering bulk food items. They do business in South America. The chart looks good and they are approaching the magic number 15 which is the price the big funds like to pay for a stock.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PSMT
PWEI bounced a little on average volume (its first green day in a while) and NVEC is barely staying above 30.
The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. – Lily Tomlin
Take care, snowcat
09/28/06
Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit. - George Carlin
The market was slightly higher today and oil rose to $63 a barrel. The rising price of oil was a great excuse for many businesses to raise prices.
SYX was up another 5% to push it over 15 again - last Friday, they blew it back down from the IBD 100. Let's see if it sticks this time.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=hayze+syx+tnl+divx+dna+wal+hh+nstc+psmt+q+hmsy+nuhc+josb+nfi+gigm+grow+angn+pspt+bits+simg+cwtr+sbux+zumz
Another IBD 100 candidate is global consulting firm, PRFT that spells profit! It has a nice chart, decent volume and business is growing at a nice pace. Check it out!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=PRFT&t=1y
Hot IPO, DIVX up another 9%, or $2. Cramer is getting the better of this one as it rose about 30% for the week. The company has a program that shrinks video codes for computer play and storage.
PWEI is now below 30. An insider made a big buy today, and hopefully, that insider is not an idiot. I think he heard the rumor I made up that the new Enron exec that is going to jail will have his cell made of PVC pipe.
NVEC dropped below 30. It broke its trend line and is no longer in play despite it being the future of technology.
And I still like the clothing retailers are doing today .http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=AEOS+ANF+ZUMZ
At my gym they have free weights, so I took them. – Steve Smith
My thoughts exactly. Snowy
George Carlin's Views on Aging
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there?
Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.
Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away.
Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there.
Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
=================================================================================================================
I think the life cycle is all backwards.
>
> You should start out dead and get it out of the way.
>
> Then, you wake up in an old-age home feeling better
> every day.
>
> You get kicked out for being too healthy; go collect
> your pension, then
> when you start work, you get a gold watch on your
> first day.
>
> You work 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy
> your retirement.
>
> You drink alcohol, you party, you participant in
> "some" generally
> promiscuous behavior and you get ready for High
> School.
>
> You go to primary school, you become a kid, you
> play, you have no
> responsibilities, you become a baby, and then...
>
> You spend your last nine months floating peacefully
> in luxury, in
> spa-like conditions; central heating, room service
> on tap, larger
> quarters every day, and then, you finish off as an
> orgasm.
>
> I rest my case.
09/29/06
Few men make themselves the masters of the things they write or speak – John Selden, judge
Today the man from Verizon, the local phone company came by to tell me why my computers were running like snails. He starts explaining how it is something in the cables or from the main box, etc., etc, etc........this is his third visit in a week.
At this point, I do not care why they are not working right, just fix my computers. I do not need to know how the phone lines work, Mr. Graham Bell, just get it working.
But with stocks, there must be some kind of understanding of why a stock should be bought or sold. You must understand the inner workings. Is the chart right? How is the volume? Does it have earnings? Are they growing? Do they have a new product? Is the industry growing? Basically, why will this stock go up! Many times I get caught up in the excitement of a rising stock and on-line banter and make a purchase I later regret. Then it is time for me to reread "How to Make Money in Stocks" by William O'Neal and get my trading form back on track. It is an easy to read book and costs about $10.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Money-Stocks-Winning/dp/0070480176
Here some of Harry Newton's theories on the sudden drop in oil prices. A day without Harry's column is like missing your morning coffee!
http://www.technologyinvestor.com/
1. Cheaper oil and lower interest rates will help get Republicans elected.
2. We have an "oil" administration -- Cheney and Bush are from oil. They understand it.
3. There is only a handful of oil producing countries, each of whom could be spoken with. If Pakistan got the message, why not Saudi, Kuwait, etc.? It's a small favor to drop prices until November.
4. There are only a handful of big oil producing companies, all of whom are major contributors, and major beneficiaries from recent tax and other legislation Washington has passed.
5. oil producers, enjoying the recent spike in fuel prices, raked in petrodollars and put much of their profits in U.S. Treasury bonds, causing bond prices to rise and interest rates to fall. That was serendipitous.
It would not surprise to see both oil prices and interest rates rise after the November elections.
However, in Tobin Smith's column, he notes:
http://www.changewave.com/
Nothing except MISSING the "greatest story never told" stock rally, thank you very much. And maybe the vast right-wing conspiracy that has brought down gasoline prices as we head into the election -- now there's a good one.
(Folks, I've lived in Washington for more than a decade and politicians have a hard time organizing a softball game, much less an energy conspiracy. Furthermore, if Dubya IS the dumbest human being alive, it seems a bit ironic that he has masterminded the greatest commercial price-fixing conspiracy in the history of the world. But I digress ...)
SYX had a good finish to the week and will make the IBD 100 near the top. This will either boost the stock some more or kill it on Monday. The company has had explosive sales over the past few quarters.
Blackberry maker, RIMM got mucho analyst upgrades and shot up 20% or $16! I wish I had some calls on that one!
Former favorite, NGA, jumped 25% for some reason, trucker USAK got a bid and was up 11% and DIVX continued to rise to $24.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=syx+rimm+nga+usak+divx
The fancy clothing stores, ANF, AEOS, etc. pulled back today, but I am bullish on them for the short term.
Ones I am watching:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=nstc+simg+hrt+mig+cwtr+tnl
PWEI's pullback seems linked to a hedge fund, Pirate Capital. They had a lot of the stock, but took a big hit with some bad small caps. Investors feared that Pirate would have to liquidate PWEI and that is why they bailed. I think it is a good buy. The stock has a high short interest and is very financially fit! Nice gain today on 2x volume!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=pwei+nvec
Being miserable is a habit. Being happy is a habit. The choice is yours. - Tom Hopkins, sales trainer.
Choose to have a great weekend. Snow E. Cat
A day without Snowcat's update is like missing morning coffee :)
Appalud!!
Quote from: njshiva on September 30, 2006, 09:58:48 AM
A day without Snowcat's update is like missing morning coffee :)
Appalud!!
I second that! Applaud, and pass the doughnuts. :D
sorry no coffee yesterday.
Subject: Art Exhibit
A couple attending an art exhibition at the National Gallery was staring at a portrait that had them completely confused. The painting depicted three very black and totally naked men sitting on a park bench. Two of the figures had black weenies, but the one in the middle had a pink weenie.
The curator of the gallery realized that they were having trouble interpreting the painting and offered his assessment. He went on for nearly half an hour explaining how it depicted the sexual emasculation of African-Americans in a predominately white, patriarchal society. "In fact," he pointed out, "some serious critics believe that the pink weenie also reflects the cultural and sociological oppression experienced by gay men in contemporary society."
After the curator left, a young man in a Kentucky T-shirt approached the couple and said, "Would you like to know what the painting is really about?"
"Now why would you claim to be more of an expert than the curator of the gallery?" asked the couple.
"Because I'm the guy who painted it," he replied. "In fact, there are no "African-Americans" depicted at all. They're just three Kentucky coal miners, and the guy in the middle went home for lunch."
ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
God Loves Blondes, too
A blonde finds herself in serious trouble. Her business has gone bust and she's in dire financial straits. She's so desperate that she decides to ask God for help. She begins to pray..."God, please help me. I've lost my business and if I don't get some money, I'm going to lose my house as well. Please let me win the Lotto."
Lotto night comes, and somebody else wins it.
She again prays..."God, please let me win the Lotto! I've lost my business, my house and I'm going to lose my car as well."
Lotto night comes and she still has no luck.
Once again, she prays..."My God, why have You forsaken me? I've lost my business, my house, and my car. My children are starving. I don't often ask You for help, and I have always been a good servant to You. PLEASE let me win the Lotto just this one time so I can get my life back in order."
Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light as the heavens open. The blonde is overwhelmed by the Voice of God Himself.. .
"Sweetheart, work with Me on this... Buy a ticket."
The upcoming marriage
Jim-Bob returns to the family cabin in Squirrel Hollow with an ear-to-ear grin.
"Daddy", he says gleefully to his father. "I've met the girl I'm gonna marry. And guess what, Daddy - she's a virgin!"
His father throws down his pipe and says "No son o' mine ain't gonna marry no virgin. If she ain't good enough for her own family, she sure ain't good enough for mine."
10/03/06
People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first. -- David H. Comins
Big Ben said today would be a good day in the market. But he is dead. Oil was down below $60, but the market was not impressed.
Magic was in the air for NMGC. This company that makes chips for hand held TV's is rumored to be working on a deal with AAPL. The stock is up 20%. I was really impressed by this one a year ago when it was $7 and TV's in the cell phone was just a dream by folks who don't get enough TV.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=TWB&t=6m
AXR had another good day. Mr. Market liked this stock when it was 52. It immediately took a dive to 38, and low and behold is 58, with the help of a $7 gain yesterday and $2 today. The company sells magazines and real estate in NM!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AXR&t=6m
GIGM WAS DOWN yesterday on big vol because the US is not allowing credit cards to charge for on line gambling. (Internet Kiddie Porn charges are ok though)
GIGM focuses mainly in the Pacific. Mahh Jong. I think it is a good deal - up 5%
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GIGM&t=1y
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct. 3 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In light of the passage of new restrictions on online gaming in the U.S., GigaMedia Limited (Nasdaq: GIGM - News) would like to clarify that it has been and remains a pure play international business -- with no U.S. source revenue.
GigaMedia therefore anticipates no adverse financial impact from the new legislation.
"As a major provider of online entertainment software for the enormous non-English language markets of the world, we are very enthusiastic about our growth and market prospects," said Chief Executive Officer Arthur Wang.
"GigaMedia has been a first mover in providing truly localized solutions for Europe and Asia," explained CEO Wang. "Our focus and extensive experience in the international markets is both the foundation and future catalyst of our strong growth."
HMSY is up 6%, this company has a thriving business auditing Medicare and other govt offices.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HMSY&t=3m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
SIMG and PRFT are looking good. In fact all looks good if you have sunshine in your heart. Snowy
Like a coffee enema in the morning.
10/04/06
You know you're never more indignant in life than when you're shopping in a store you feel is beneath you and one of the other customers mistakes you for one of the employees of that store. – Dennis Miller
I was in the offices of a lawyer friend on mine in NYC. I noticed the Shoe-Shine man who went from office to office shining lawyer's shoes while they were on the phone. My friend pointed out that he is there 6 days a week and works about 10 hours a day. So I figure he does about 12 shines an hour at $6 a shine – and most of the lawyers tip about $4. That is about $120 an hour, but let me slow it down and say he only brings home about $3000 a week, tax-free.
It turns out that he lives in a large rent controlled apartment in Manhattan and owns two homes on Long Island that he rents out to relatives from his country that have come here to work, that information cost my friend $6 plus a $4 tip.
My point is, what is better, to be a well paid lawyer with a lot of stress, working long hours or a better paid Shoe-shine man who enjoys his work? More on this later.
The stock market was unusually peppy today as it hit a new high. Oil prices rose due to trouble in Africa.
I took advantage of some big gains today in ANF, AEOS and SBUX by selling the Oct Calls I owned. A 100% gain is hard to pass up and I do not want to get too greedy. Cramer put a price on SBUX of $40 to $45 in his radio show today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=aeos+anf+sbux
The teen retailer, ZUMZ, which I own, sells surfer and skateboarder clothing. The stock, which has been working on the right side of a cup, also had a solid day, up a dollar. I think this company will continue to grow as children go out of their way to dress in ways that annoy me. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ZUMZ
Airplane parts maker, LMIA, got a big 10% jump on a big Gulfstream order.
I had LMIA in the past, but sold it at a higher price. Regardless of gas prices, people will still fly if they have to get somewhere fast and economically.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=lmia
Medical supply companies, ABAX and BLUD continue to gain ground. As tech falls by the wayside, biotech and medical companies will gain interest.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=abax+blud
Cramer said to sell DIVX and buy ARRS and ARNA. IBD had a good article on IT Company, OPSW, which has great management and finally made it into the black!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=DIVX+ARRS+OPSW+ARNA
Don't forget to sell when the stocks are up! Snowy Von Cat
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Because I am a man:
when I lock my keys in the car I will fiddle with a wire long after hypothermia, or heat stroke, has set in.
AAA is not an option. I will win.
_____________________________________________________
when the car isn't running very well, I will pop the hood and stare at the engine as if I know what I'm looking at. If another man shows up, one of us will say to the other, "I used to be able to fix these things, but now with all these computers and everything, I wouldn't know where to start." We will then drink beer and break wind as a form of Holy Communion.
_____________________________________________________
when I catch a cold, I need someone to bring me soup and take care of me while I lie in bed and moan.
You're a woman. You never get as sick as I do, so for you this isn't a problem.
_____________________________________________________
I can be relied upon to purchase basic groceries at the store, like milk or bread. I cannot be expected to find exotic items like "cumin" or "tofu." For all I know, these are the same thing. And never, under any circumstances, expect me to pick up anything for which "feminine hygiene product" is a euphemism.
(F.Y.I. guys cumin is a spice and not a bodily function)
_____________________________________________________
when one of our appliances stops working, I will insist on taking it apart, despite evidence that this will just cost me twice as much, once the repair person gets here and has to put it back together.
_____________________________________________________
I must hold the television remote control in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing has been misplaced, I may miss an entire show looking for it (though one time I was able to survive by holding a calculator)...applies to engineers mainly.
_____________________________________________________
there is no need to ask me what I'm thinking about. The answer is always either sex, cars or football. I have to make up something else when you ask, so don't ask.
_____________________________________________________
I do not want to visit your mother, or have your mother come visit us, or talk to her when she calls, or think about her any more than I have to. Whatever you got her for Mother's Day is okay; I don't need to see it. And don't forget to pick up something for my mother too.
_____________________________________________________
you don't have to ask me if I liked the movie. Chances are, if you're crying at the end of it, I didn't.... and if you are feeling amorous afterwards... then I will certainly at least remember the name and recommend it to others.
_____________________________________________________
I think what you're wearing is fine. I thought what you were wearing five minutes ago was fine, too. Either pair of shoes is fine. With the belt or without it, looks fine. Your hair is fine. You look fine. Can we just go now?
_____________________________________________________
this is, after all, the year 2006, I will share equally in the housework. You just do the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, the vacuuming, and the dishes, and I'll do the rest... like looking for my socks, or like wandering around in the garden with a beer wondering what to do.
_____________________________________________________
This has been a public service message for Women to better understand the Male.
10/06/06
The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win. – Roger Bannister, runner
Not much drive in today's market as job data drove the stocks down. Google announced it was buying internet video posting site, YouTube for $1.6 bil. You are not going to make scratch like that working for the man. I bet the creators are two twenty-something geekoids who started the company in their basement and did not get their first kiss until they were 23 because they were concentrating on how they were going to spend all the money they were going to make.
Most stocks were down today. Techs fell due to Micron:
Micron Technology slid 2.38, or 14%, to 15.16 after the computer-memory manufacturer Thursday said its fiscal-2007 capital-spending budget is expected to more than double from a year ago to $4 billion, following a fourth quarter that disappointed analysts. Micron has been trying to move into higher growth areas such as NAND flash and imaging chips for phones and cars. Merrill Lynch cut its rating on Micron stock to "neutral" from "buy."
Starbucks fell 27 cents, or 0.7%, to 38.42, pulling back from strong gains Thursday after the coffee retailer reported a higher-than-expected rise in September same-store sales of 6%. The ever-growing Starbucks also raised its target for global stores to 40,000 from 30,000, as well as introduced plans for warming ovens in 6,500 U.S. stores by the end of 2008, starting in New York.
Sovereign Bancorp jumped 2.45, or 11%, to 24.05 as a potential boardroom battle next week could lead to the dismissal of Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Sidhu. Seven of the bank's 12 directors have been allegedly pushing for Mr. Sidhu's removal; however, he is supposedly backed by Sovereign's largest shareholder, Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano, which holds two board seats and about a 25% stake in the company. Banco Santander's shares edged down six cents to 16.04.
Chattem surged 9.44, or 27%, to 43.87 after the maker of over-the-counter health-care products agreed to spend $410 million in cash to acquire the U.S. rights to five consumer brands. The brands, which include Act, an anti-cavity mouthwash, and Cortizone, an anti-itch product, are being bought from Johnson & Johnson, which acquired the brands when it bought Pfizer's consumer health-care operations earlier this year. Shares of J&J slipped 19 cents to 64.92, while Pfizer was off 23 cents to 27.76.
Shares of Genta rose eight cents, or 11%, to 88 cents after the company's proposal for a trial of its injection for a type of leukemia completed a special protocol assessment by the Food and Drug Administration. The biopharmaceutical company said the proposed trial will be conducted in patients who haven't received chemotherapy
In the Eugene portfolio universe, an old friend, airplane parts maker HSR jumped 12% and is working on the right side of the cup.http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HSR&t=1y
Most of today's stuff was borrowed from the WSJ online. I was really busy. Sorry. J.T. Snow
=============================================================
The National Poetry Contest had come down to the final two contestants,
a Yale graduate and a redneck from Texas.
They were given a word, then they were allowed two minutes to study the
word and come up with a poem that contained the word. The word that they
were given was "Timbuktu."
First to recite his poem was the Yale graduate. He stepped to the
microphone and said:
Slowly across the desert sand
Trekked a lonely caravan;
Men on camels, two by two
Destination Timbuktu.
The crowd went crazy! No way could the redneck top that, they thought.
The redneck calmly made his way to the microphone and recited:
Me and Tim a huntin' went.
Met three women in a pop up tent.
They was three, and we was two,
So I bucked one, and Timbuktu.
The redneck won hands down!!!!
10/09/06
Your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do. – Michael Korda, publishing executive.
The market was shaken by a Nuclear Bomb test in North Korea. The work on the street is that if one of those bombs lands within 50 feet of you, it will have a lasting impact on your retirement plans.
Airplane parts maker, HSR continued looking good as it works the right side of the cup. Here is the briefing story that stimulated the turnaround.
HSR Hi-Shear -- small stock, low float, improving chart (9.90 +0.70) *****
Former IBD 100 name Hi-Shear (HSR) has recently pulled back more than 50% from all-time highs, has consolidated around its 200-day MA around $8, and has today gapped up above its 50-day and 50-day exp moving averages. It's not much of a trader's stock, but for those w/ a longer-term horizon and the patience and risk tolerance to deal with low-volume, low-float names, HSR may be worth another look. Co is a provider of aerospace equipment (makes exploding bolts, separating equipment used by the Space Shuttle, airplane ejector seats). Co also makes LifeShear cutters for freeing accident victims. The gap provides a little more confidence that cos' long downtrend may have reversed. Note that its float is about 2 mln shares -- Mike Tarsala,
[email protected].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk3WLyVQ9rM
NTRZ has become the talk of the 3 Stocks on Fire crowd. They are the world's leading producer of rice bran and rice oil.......made from the waste of the rice!
NutraCea, a health science company, engages in the development and distribution of stabilized rice bran and rice bran-based products for the consumer food and animal feed sectors. Its products include food supplements and medical foods for humans and animals, as well as cosmetics and beauty aids based on stabilized rice bran, rice bran derivatives, and rice bran oils. The company's customers include consumer nutrition and healthcare companies, domestic and international food companies, and companion animal feed manufacturers. NutraCea was founded in 2000. The company was formerly known as NutraStar Incorporated and changed its name to NutraCea in 2003. NutraCea is based in El Dorado Hills, California.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=NTRZ.OB&t=6m
Lots of insider buying!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=NTRZ.OB
It could be a fad, but it has hardly gained the momentum I think it is capable of. This is fine pick with a lot of potential. Their materials cost is nominal, yet there is a great demand from the health field (rice bran has a huge amount of anti-oxidants) and the food industry. See for yourself.
PTSCW.ob, which I have owned for a long time was up on huge vol on Friday. They are a small company that makes micro processors that allow computers to communicate. I bought an s-load at .95 and have held. I think this can be big. If you love me, check it out.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PTSCE.OB
XING AND SIM look like they may be IBD 100 material as they both crashed through 15! XING is a Chinese telephone monster and looks like it will continue to steam upward. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=xing+sim
MCNS.ob, the company with the perfect 45 degree angle chart was up 5% today. I do not know how they make their money, but I am glad I own the stock.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MNCS.OB
ANF bolted thru 75, AXR was up 2, BLUD up 5%, SYX up 5% (#1 on the IBD 100), wedding planner KNOT was up 6%, PWEI up a buck.
Drug companies, MEMY and ACOR, were up on news of a private placement.
http://tools.thestreet.com/tsc/quotes.html?pg=qcn&symb=MEMY
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ACOR
ACOR was up on huge volume and broke the $15 barrier.
There is lots of stuff for today, so let's find a way to use it and make some money.
Thanks, Eugene
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
new measurements:
1. Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
2. 2000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton
3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond
5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong
7. 365.25 days of drinking low calorie beer = 1 Lite year
8. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
9. Half a large intestine = 1 semicolon
10. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz
11. Basic unit of laryngitis - 1 hoarsepower
12. Shortest distance between two jokes - a straight line
13. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
14. 1 million microphones = 1 megaphone
15. 1 million bicycles = 1 megacycles
16. 365.25 days = 1 unicycle
17. 2000 mockingbirds = two kilomockingbirds
18. 10 cards = 1 decacard
19. 52 cards = 1 deckacard
20. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 fig Newton
21. 1000 grams of wet socks = 1 literhosen
22. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
23. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
24. 10 rations = 1 decaration
25. 100 rations = 1 C-ration
26. 2 monograms = 1 diagram
27. 8 nickels = 2 paradigms
28. 2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale
University Hospital = 1 I.V. League
10/10/06
"What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you just want us to know the depths of your hatred....consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started. But you're about to learn."
Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald, 9/12/06
"We're Americans; we don't walk around terrified."
Secretary of State Colin Powell 9/12/01
The market started out hot, but cooled by the end of the session as earnings season gets going tonight with Alcoa reporting as you read this. Oil dropped below $59 a barrel. Many investors are anxious to find out if oil prices will stay down AFTER the elections.
Steel stocks continued to inch higher as ZEUS and SIM gained 3%. SIM has been a rocket over the past few weeks.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=sim+zeus
And Aluminum Company ERS is starting to build the rt side of a cup on another strong up day. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ERS&t=6m
Chinese telephone stock, XING pushed up another 5%. I think it still has another point or two to go up until it is correctly valued. This is a good one to add to your portfolio.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xing
Telephones are not just another fad.
Shoe maker, CROX , is showing it is for real, gaining another buck. Fous thinks there is real growth this company, I just see plenty of knock-offs being made. But then, it has never hurt Coach Handbags.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CROX
DIVX, which compresses videos for online play jumped today on the Youtube purchase!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=DIVX
Wedding planning site, KNOT, jumped another 8%. Women spend tons of $$$ on their weddings. Wedding dress = $4000, Tux rental = $99.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=KNOT
DVAX sold 7 million shares of stock, dropping 11% and killing all of my profits on that one and then some. Oh. Well. And NVEC is just clinging onto its 50dma.
Please watch the earnings! With the backdating of options scandal going on, there might be some nasty restatements. Be careful, Snow-Rod.
10/11/06
Let your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already. – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor
The market was down a bit and oil pulled back more. Alcoa started the earnings season off in a poor fashion and ended up hitting an 11 month low. Not a good beginning
SYX got pummeled so badly, it brought a tear to my eye. The IBD 100 #1 stock fell 19% on huge volume. It is being pushed towards 15 – if it breaks that mark, it will be off the IBD 100 and likely fade into the woodwork. I bailed out after losing a handsome profit. I hate that. Reminds me of ERS and many other IBD #1 alumni.
ZUMZ and PSPT also took me down a notch falling almost $2 and $1 respectively.
There were few bright spots all around and I always am cautious during earnings season. I let go of Q after blowing a 10% gain and sold RTK with another awful loss (I keep buying this gas-to –liquid fuel company with the dream that it might amount to something – yeah! A big loss)!
Better luck tomorrow. And don't take any stock advice you read on the internet.
Thanks, Snowy Blowy
10/12/06
A MAN IS NOT OLD UNTIL REGRETS TAKE THE PLACE OF DREAMS. – John Barrymore, actor
The Dow rose to a new high but I got slammed in the mouth again with a last minute 20% drop in HSR. I knew earnings season was a killer, but I just stand there like a deer in the headlights.
SYX fell further when a Stock Lemon report said basically that SYX SUX.
Chinese Auto maker, CAAS is showing a triple bottom base. It is as exciting as a triple Lutz!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CAAS
I won't say whether or not I bought it because someone would just report the purchase to StockLemon and they would pan it!
MNCS finally has a down day - and it's a doozy!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MNCS.OB&t=6m
Formerly "Big and Tall" looking pretty Phat to me!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CMRG
DIVX up again until Stocklemon finds it.
SIMC surged on 2q guidance. It reported that prior account problems were due to incompetence and not foul play! The stock bolted 75%.
I owned it when it was 17ish.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=simc
Auto chassis maker, SPAR, is still looking good, up 4%. This is an Elite G pick, where ever he went.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SPAR&t=1y
Clothing maker, ZUMZ is surging ahead, as is CROX. CROX and UTK were featured in IBD articles today!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ZUMZ&t=6m
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=crox+utk
XING continues to do well until it collapses, up 4%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=XING&t=1d&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
Take care,
Snowcat
10/13/06
There is no such thing as luck. It's a fancy name for being always at our duty, and so sure to be ready when a good time comes. – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, British Statesman
I think a good time has come for me to change my life. On Monday I will be starting a new career with less stress and better benefits. It is a big change from the financial business I have done over the past 20 years, but there comes a time when you have to make the move that is in the best interest of your family. I will continue making market comments, for what its worth, considering how I got skewered on SYX and HRS, but stuff happens and I learned some valuable lessons – with HRS, once I sell something, never look at it again, and with SYX, avoid IBD 100 stocks that make a big run-up.
Comments will be less frequent and I will have to adjust my trading to a longer range and a less volatile breed of stock. I do not think I should trade stocks my first week on the new job.
I bought some CHS, a woman's clothing store that focus' on women 35 and over. The stock has always had good numbers and with the retail clothing sector doing well, I think this stock will get back to 30. Earnings are on Nov 18. There are Nov 25 calls that look good as well as the stock. Like ANF and others, I think retail will be strong going into X-Mas. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CHS
PRFT got a double whammy, getting downgraded (likely went up too fast) and being panned by Cramer. I like the outsourcing company, but sold to preserve a 15% profit. For the long term it looks good, though I have no control of what the Cramer Zombies do.
NVEC bounced off the 50dma and got a further boost from shorts who likely did not want to hold thru the weekend. Volume is increasing and earnings are next Wed., so a lot of things are up in the air. I think it will continue to rise into earnings....and then?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NVEC
BITS had a nice bo of a cup with handle sort, the kind you want to see. The company makes software that helps organize fonts for use in documents. It is a Cool Cat newsletter pick that should be a good one.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=bits
Here are some others I am looking at. I cannot buy ALY or TTM because I owned them already. ALY does oil field maintenance and TTM builds cars in India
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=aly+bits+boom+caas+chs+cmrg+nvec+sim+ttm
I will do my best to bring good potential stocks to your attention. Maybe some of them can help you make some extra money.
If I could make a little boy smile or one million dollars, my life would be complete. – Martin Mull, comedian
My thoughts exactly. Snowster
Good Luck in your new work !!!
I don't care if you never post another stock tip, just don't stop the jokes !!! ;D
One of the most famous line for me in TV was when the beatnik asked Jethro about Granny's smoked crawdads "Tell me baby, which end do ya light"?
Another was when Mr. Brewster was leaving the cabin in the helo (either the first or second episode) after the oil discovery. Granny told Jeb a big bird had come down and swooped Mr. Brewster up...but let him go after I hit it with the second barrel...
Seriously, work hard and things just fall into place.
Quote from: snowcat on October 13, 2006, 04:21:15 PM
If I could make a little boy smile or one million dollars, my life would be complete. – Martin Mull, comedian
Snowy,
You've made this little elf smile many, many times, so your life already is complete, but it wouldn't hurt any if you make a million dollars in your new career anyway :D
Thank you for all of the effort that you put into this thread. Applause. I wish you every success in your new career, and hope that you will pop in here as often as you can.
Good luck!
Kudos Snowy
All the best, you have made me smile often! I look forward to reading when possible.
Cheers joe
Good luck Snowy and great work here. Appluad.!!
let the jokes keep comin. ;)
Thanks guys-
I now work with the Dept of Environmental Protection for the City of NY.
I am involved in some of their massive construction contracts. One involves taking a 24 foot pipe that brings water to the city from upstate. The State wants the water to be filtered, so they are building a 1.3 billion $ filtration plant. The pipe is over 100' under ground surrounded by solid rock. The first phase of the project resembles the Grande Canyon. They dug up a golf course in the Bronx and when the filtration plant is built, they will replace the golf course on top. When the 2nd phase begins, I will be one of the folks monitoring the project.
Anything I do at work is not private, so I will be very careful there.
I have already seen a drop in XING and BITS, but I will be patient with them for now.
Otherwise, I was preparing for the NYS Taekwondo championships this Saturday, but got kicked in the nutz pretty hard during practice. I can barely lift my leg a day later. I will keep youse updated. My absence will not upset the balance of martial arts.
Here are some of interest:
RMTR Ramtron Intl -- Momentum Profile; seen as a secondary play on NVEC
With NVE Corp stalling after a bit after being a momentum mover, there is some chatter that RMTR could be seen as a sympathy play as it's starting to attract the momentum crowd... NVEC makes devices using spintronics, a nanotechnology it helped pioneer, which uses electron spin rather than electron charge. The spintronic microchips are able to store massive amounts of data on a tiny chip, meaning portable devices would be able to store vast quantities of image, audio and video files, while remaining very small and light. NVEC believes its MRAM technology has the potential to revolutionize electronic memory... Another company that has a pioneering technology is Ramtron (RMTR). The co pioneered the integration of ferroelectric materials into semiconductor products. Ramtron's FRAM memories are a new generation of semiconductor memory that offers higher write speed and much higher write endurance than older technologies, such as flash and EEPROM. For example, RMTR's technology will be deployed in as many as 100,000 utility meters in a Phoenix program where by this system allows consumers to view their energy usage via a small display in their homes in real time, helping consumers make better energy usage decisions. Ramtron's FRAM memory is being used in the world's largest meter management project in Italy, with over 27 mln connected electricity meters... Ramtron is profitable and Q2 product revenue grew 21% yr/yr to $9.9 mln and the co expects Q3 sequential growth of 4-13%... While RMTR and NVEC serve different end markets, they both have pioneered new semiconductor technologies. We caution that RMTR is a speculative play and looks extended here, but we wanted to provide some color on its recent move. Mkt cap $98 mln, float 19.9 mln, avg vol 95K. (PROFX)
Small Cap Profile: DivX (DIVX)
[BRIEFING.COM -- Robert J. Reid] Of all the recent IPOs, DivX is the one that stands out to us as one to watch heading into the Q3 earnings season. DIVX is high growth, has huge margins, a small float with 9.1 mln IPO shares, has potential upcoming catalysts (Q3 report on Oct 30; initiations of coverage soon after). Most importantly, 80% of revenue is license revenue meaning virtuallly all of that goes to the EPS line which creates a lot of leverage on any upside in revenue. Finally, the stock is still not that much above its offering ($16) and opening ($19.50) prices.
What It Does
DivX (DIVX 23.03) is a popular video compression technology. At its core, DivX is a codec (short for compression/decompression) - a piece of software that compresses video from virtually any source down to a size that is transportable over the Internet without reducing visual quality.
With DivX, you can compress a DVD to a fraction of its original size. Users can fit the entire contents of a DVD on a regular data CD with virtually no loss in quality. For example, users can take any digital video content, from home movies to DVDs and burn it on a CD or store on your computer's hard drive without using a lot of storage space.
Robert Reid: pls contact me at
[email protected] with any questions or ideas.
Key Points
Popular Service: DivX is a popular video compression technology. Its codec technology has been downloaded by consumers over 180 mln times in the last four years. In Q2, the co distributed over 15 mln copies of the DivX Player to consumers from its website, DivX.com.
Top Line Growth: The co is profitable and 1H06 revs rose 94% to $27.3 mln (79% is license revenue)...
How They Make Money: At first, we were concerned about how they make money if they give their player away for free. However, we found out they are highly profitable because they license their technology to consumer device manufacturers such as Philips and Samsung. The co receives a royalty for each DivX Certified device (primarily DVD players) its customers ship (over 46 mln DivX Certified hardware devices have been shipped worldwide). The co also generates revenue from software licensing and advertising.
Exposure to Google: The co also has large exposure to Google (GOOG) at 20% of revs in 1H06. The co recently agreed with Google to include and distribute the Mozilla Firefox Browser with DivX's software products. Google pays DivX fees based on the number of downloads of the included software by consumers.
Key to the Story: While the co's revenue growth is quite impressive and the co is profitable, the key to the story is that about 80% of revenue is license revenue. This means that virtually all of that revenue falls to the bottom line as there are almost no costs associated with it. As such, the co enjoys huge margins -- operating margin for 1H06 was 25%. That's some big leverage to the EPS line.
Upcoming Catalyst 1: The co is scheduled to report Q3 results after the close on Monday Oct 30. Usually first qtrs as a public co are very impressive as it's important for the co to establish credibility on the Street. Remember that these IPOs are doing roadshows months before the debut. They are convincing funds to buy the stock, but if their first qtr is disappointment it brings up questions about mgmt's credibility and competence. And that takes a while to earn back.
Upcoming Catalyst 2: We expect initiations of coverage soon after the Q3 report which are generally pretty positive and the stock has not done that much since its debut so they could have high price targets. JP Morgan was the lead, BofA and Cowen were also involved.
Bottom Line: Of all the recent IPOs, DivX is the one that stands out to us as one to watch heading into the Q3 earnings season. DIVX is high growth, has huge margins, a small float with 9.1 mln IPO shares, has potential upcoming catalysts (Q3 report on Oct 30; initiations of coverage soon after). Most importantly, 80% of revenue is license revenue meaning virtuallly all of that goes to the EPS line which creates a lot of leverage on any upside in revenue. Finally, the stock is still not that much above its offering ($16) and opening ($19.50) prices.
DIVX -- Two Month Chart
I will post some jokes on the Joke link so I am remembered. - Snowy
nice to hear from you snowcat. looks like your new gig is lot of fun, good luck :)
I have a position in divx and was wondering about the results. thanks for the update.
I thnk DIVX will benefit from the Youtube purchase - people will see that there is a huge market for videos on the web. Their software compresses the video so it does not take as much space or require long to load.
NVEC had some great results this week. Their technology will have a great impact on the way things are done in the future.
Others to watch are NSTC AND TYL.
Here is a good analysis on MTEX by Mr. Market:
On any given day after school we probably have 20 boys, ages between 12
– 16, running through our humble home, playing video games and
rummaging through our pantry cabinets. Given this kind of adolescent
throughput, what do you suppose are the chances that a bag of Gummy Bears would
last more than a couple of hours? Of course the answer cannot be given
in hours, it is usually a matter of minutes.
Of course, treating the neighborhood kids to all kinds of sugar, soda
and caffeine probably isn't the best way to ingratiate ourselves with
our neighbors (unless our neighbor is a dentist, which he is but I
digress). So from time to time, Mrs. Market decides that it might be good to
leave out a basket of apples or carrots for the kids. Of course when I
get home from work, I look for the Gummy Bears but all I find are the
apples and the carrots that the kids have not consumed.
Alright, so the kids don't eat the apples. So our next idea was to try
something new and different. Manna•Bears™—Mannatech's latest product
innovation for children—supports every parent's desire to minimize the
continuing chore of getting kids to consume the proper nutrients.
Manna•Bears™ are designed as a delicious, chewy, sweet supplement in colorful,
gummi-bear shapes—a mouthwatering natural health product kids will come
back for again and again.
In addition to its specially formulated glyconutritional blend,
Manna•Bears™ supplement with extracts of 12 different dehydrated fruits and
vegetables, plus antioxidant green tea powder. Everything is packed into
a colorful, wholesome pectin base, derived from natural sources.
When used as part of a healthful diet along with Glyco•Bears®
multivitamin/mineral supplements, Manna•Bears™ are a wonderful way to help
children stay healthy and grow properly.
Well guess what...the kids didn't eat the MannaBears because most likely
they tasted like crap. I didn't think this was a big deal until I saw
that the MannaBears cost $25 for a bottle of 120. That's 21 cents per
Mannabear. Which led me to believe that if any kid was eating this stuff,
the people that made Mannabears...Mannatech..were making big bucks.
So today I bought MTEX (Mannatech) at 17.22. I will sell it in 4 to 6
weeks at 19.87. Here's why I like MTEX.
MTEX stock is up 64% in the last 52 weeks, yet its PE is only 14 and
its forward PE is only 12. Take a look at the chart:
Vibrant health is no longer a certainty. For many, it is intermittent
at best. This realization has triggered a Wellness Revolution, and it's
changing the lives of people around the world. Mannatech is on the
cutting edge of new technologies that provide what every body needs for
optimal health. Even more than optimal health products, Mannatech offers
you the opportunity for an optimal life. The chance to be part of
something meaningful. Something driven by purpose and characterized by
integrity. Something bigger than yourself. I take this information to heart
and have changed my behavior. Just last week when I was in Vegas, I
drank Coors Lite instead of Heineken and smoked only 5 cigars. Health is
important.
Mannatech develops innovative, high-quality, proprietary, nutritional
supplements, skin-care and topical products, and weight-management
products that are sold through approximately 526,000 independent associates
and members in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United
Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Denmark, and Germany.
Mannatech's products are focused around impacting optimal health and
wellness and are based on the science of carbohydrate technology and
phytochemistry. Mannatech's flagship patented ingredient – Ambrotose™ is
found in the majority of its products and is based on the science that
certain naturally-occurring components of various plants are believed
to effectively support optimal health and wellness, as well as address
certain important aspects of the body's immune system. An anti-oxidant
newcomer launched last year, Ambrotose-AO uses a blend of anti-oxidants
mixed with the sugars to supposedly boost the immune system and help
fight off environmental toxins. It's all about glyconutrients.
Medical research acknowledges that eight glyconutrient sugars are
needed at the cellular level for optimum immune system function. Considering
that six of these glyconutrients are often lacking in modern diets,
Mannatech sought new and better sources of the nutrients. The effort
culminated in the Ambrotose complex. Twenty patents -- including one from
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office -- have been issued to Mannatech for
technology related to the Ambrotose complex.
How does the body use glyconutrients?
Over the last decade, researchers have made many exciting discoveries,
but few are as significant as the realization that carbohydrates aren't
just for energy. Certain sugars that we call glyconutrients or super
sugars aren't burned as fuel like glucose, but are used to communicate
with and to control and protect every cell in the body. Just as computers
need a code to write and translate information, your body needs a code
to operate. This sugar code of biological information exists in and on
every cell in your body.
According to Mannatech, the body joins these sugars to proteins making
structures known as glycoproteins which are attached to the surface of
every cell. They send and translate commands from one cell to another
throughout your body's 600 trillion cells. Projecting from the cell
surface, they act as keys to "unlock" the required functions of the
adjoining cell. If the right glycoprotein "keys" are available, the body
functions smoothly as the flow of information between cells is
uninterrupted. If the needed glycoproteins are not available, communication is
slowed or impaired. When I don't get enough sleep, my communication is also
slowed and impaired..so I know what the man is talking about.
Getting the blend of sugars in Ambrotose® complex provides your body
with a ready supply of raw materials for coding. No combination of
vitamins, minerals, amino acids or herbals can take their place. You become
an instant genius, like $$$MR. MARKET$$$.
Dr. Bill McAnalley, Mannatech Senior Vice President and Chief Science
Officer, reasoned that if mannose supported health, so would the other
specific sugar molecules known to be involved in all cellular
communication. Other scientists, working independently of Dr. McAnalley, proved
that proteins, due to the limited number of ways that amino acids bond,
could not account for all of the functions performed by the body. Only
carbohydrates could be combined in the number of ways required to
account for the body's enormous coding capacity.
Does this stuff work? I have no idea...but it sells like crazy. Today
Mannatech has more than two dozen glyconutritional products for adults and
children that address health and nutrition, sports performance, weight
management and skin care.
Here are some factoids on Mannatech:
• In business since 1993;
• Solid balance sheet with limited debt;
• Core products based on patented propriety raw material blend;
Mannatech has extremely loyal customers who value the benefits and
quality from its products. Mannatech focuses on transitioning identified
research and development into innovative science backed proprietary
patentable products that target optimizing optimal health. Furthermore,
Mannatech offers its independent Associates a host of opportunities to
succeed in their financial pursuits through creative training aids,
specialized seminars, and innovative technology. Hold on a minute, did I say
Associates? Yep..you guessed it. Mannatech is an Amway, Shaklee pyramid
clone. Now don't get me wrong, you won't find boxes of this stuff in my
garage and closets.... but direct selling works. People do buy from their
friends. Mannatech has a sales force that they employ and pay NOTHING!
Talk about cost control.
Network-marketing minimizes up-front costs as compared to conventional
marketing methods and allows Mannatech to be more responsive to the
everchanging, overall market conditions of the marketplace. Mannatech
intends to continue to research potentially new products and focus on
controlled successful international expansion. Mannatech has over one-half
million independent associates and members purchasing its packs and
products. With this kind of broad reaching platform, it's difficult to
imagine any of these sales forces eroding in the near future. Mannatech has
hired several scientists to sift through research on carbohydrate
technology and help come up with new products using it. Plenty of rank and
file converts vouch for the products. Mannatech's direct sales model
uses thousands of customers to spread the word through personal testimony.
Mannatech's newest product is MannaBars..not to be confused with
MannaBears. I guess MannaBars are a lot like the NitroTech protein bars that
I take after I lift in the morning. Although people who eat MannaBars
probably walk around in sandals and don't have 19" biceps like the
people who eat NitroTech protein bars.
So how does this all add up? This company is making oodles of money.
Last quarter, MTEX reported record earnings for second quarter 2006 of
$0.31 per diluted share, up 48% from second quarter 2005 earnings of
$0.21 per diluted share. Pretax profit reached $13.4 million for the
quarter, up 41% over prior year, reflecting favorable costs relative to
sales. Net income for the quarter reached a record $8.6 million with a net
profit ratio of 8.2%, a rate improvement of 2.5 points versus 2005,
partially due to a lower effective tax rate in the quarter.
Total second quarter revenue was $104.8 million, up 2.1 percent versus
prior year. Total current Mannatech independent associates and members
grew to 526,000 as of June 30, 2006, an increase of 19.5% compared with
the same time prior year. The record current independent associate and
member count resulted primarily from the increase in continuing current
independent associates and members.
The main factors that will impact the personal products industry as a
whole for the remainder of the year are the direction of consumer
spending and raw material prices. Both of these are in a favorable trend
right now. Bolstered by an increased awareness in health and well being,
the overall growth should be "healthy".
As long as Mannatech continues to grow their membership (geometrically
or pyramidically) they will continue to grow their sales. ANAL-ysts
have MTEX pegged to earn $1.25/share on revenues of $420 million.
Actually, $$$MR. MARKET$$$ thinks that this ANAL-yst won't be too far off the
mark. $$$MR. MARKET$$$ projects 2006 earnings of $1.45/share on revenues
of $471 million. At today's PE of 14, the $1.45/share would get the
stock up to $20.30, which is in excess of my sales target.
$$$MR. MARKET$$$'s growth rate projections are very reasonable when you
consider that 5 year sales growth is 24%, 3 year sales growth is 42%
and one year sales growth is 32%. As long as more people are eating Manna
Bars and Manna Bears, MTEX will be seeing green and that's not the
green tea they are selling. I'm talking dead presidents..Jackson, Lincoln
and mostly Franklins (even though he wasn't a president).
Return on Equity is up to 45%. ROA is 26%. MTEX has no long term debt.
Mannatech has more cash and current assets on its books than it ever
has had. It's net income, as a percent of revenue, is also at a
historical high of 7.4%. Also it pays a 2% dividend. All good things for
investor security.
Here's what the boss, Sam Caster, Board Chairman and CEO, had to say:
"We are working to strengthen our growth trend in the second half of
2006 based on significant new product introduction. This will include the
launch in the fourth quarter of a revolutionary new product, called
PhytoMatrix, the nutrition industry's first supplement containing
completely standardized levels of all natural vitamin complexes and 100% plant
sourced minerals and phytochemicals. This important product development
fills the needs of health-conscious consumers who prefer natural
plant-based wellness products over synthetic ingredients. In addition, we are
preparing to expand 'Optimal' our proprietary new preservative-free
skin care system, into several more of our current markets. 'Optimal' was
successfully introduced in Japan in mid-May, where it generated more
than $1.2 million in sales by the end of June."
While he's over in Japan, maybe he should sell some of this stuff to
North Korea. If that guy over there felt better about himself, maybe he'd
stop lighting off his nukes. If people buy this stuff, and feel good
about what they are buying, then $$$MR. MARKET$$$ will be a happy man.
Let me know what you think of this write up and if you like it, email
it on to a few friends.
I am HUGE!
$$$MR. MARKET$$$
www.mrmarketishuge.com
10/28/06
There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree: sit on an acorn and wait for it to grow, or climb it. - The founder of Dunkin Donuts, I forgot his name.
Yow! I came home on Friday to find some Halloween slasher took a knife to my portfolio!
Mr.Market pick, MTEX, which makes nutricional supplements was accused by the Texas AG of making false claims (cancer cures, etc.). It was later found out that the person making those claims had a high short position. The stock got whacked. I am holding my 100 shares. Mr. M also wrote a clever piece on TWGP, but I will spare you. (his AXR pick fell right after he bought it and bounced right back, so who knows).
Hospital Real Estate REIT, MPW, fell when one of their new properties went bankrupt. This was a $65 mil hit. I think they will get it back up and running and I still think MPW is good to own.
SIMG was slashed to bits on a nasty earnings forcast.
Coolcat likes optical inspection systems maker, CAMT. Their product enhances the quality of circuit boards. The numbers look great!
Cramer is concerned with the elections. The idea is that oil might resume its high price after the elections so alternative energy stocks like ESLR and SPWR are the place to be. But he also likes defense stocks like FLIR and NICE.
He sees value in PMTI, which makes lasers to remove skin wrinkles. He believes vanity has its market and thinks YHOO might be bought out by a Comcast or someone.
A stock that I have watched for far too long, FTEK, got a good write up in IBD this past week. The company makes a system that reduces polution in coal burning furnaces (used by utilities to make electricity) and a system that reduces carbon buildup in the furnaces (it can be the size of a car and have to be dynamited out).
It may be a little late for the party, but the potential for the company, especially overseas, is huge. Check it out!
Some that I have my eye on from IBD are: LQDT, JSDA, TNL, NSTC (just under 15), TYL, HRT, FCFS, PRFT,SYKE, IAAC HPC DIVX MIG ATRS and COGO.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=LQDT%2c+JSDA%2c+TNL%2c+NSTC%2c+TYL%2c+HRT%2c+FCFS%2c+PRFT%2cSYKE%2c+IAAC+HPC+DIVX+MIG+ATRS+COGO+ftek+spwr+eslr+flir+mice+pmti+yhoo+nvec.
Have a great week - and I hope Halloween is full of treats for us. Snowy
Great pick and info on EFUT snowy !! ;)
great pick on EFUT snowy! I appreciate all your work you do on this board and am always looking forward to your post. So with that said, please don't feel discourage because their are some that
follow your picks but may not express it in the thread.
keep up the good work.
11/20/06
Learning the martial arts without fighting is like learning to swim without water - Bruce Lee
EFUT hit a high of about 47 before pulling back. I got out at 43ish, But big trader Susan, who got out in the 40's, is buying up shares at 32. I would think it would cool off for a while but she thinks it is worth the bucks. She held on to TZOO and TASR when there were major pull backs and they went on to major gains. The company does have an extremely low float, some 500 clients and has got a lot of attention last week - but has yet to be mentioned on Madd Money!
Another Chinese tech company, JST, which has been showing slight gains on steadily increasing volume over the past month. It broke out on Friday, up some 30% on huge volume due to impressive earnings. The AMEX company is following in the company of other low float AMEX companies like Mexican steel roll processor, SIM (which took a dive Friday and recovered nicely - low PE and BV) and security company, UUU and medical device maker, HRT. Many of these companies ride high and fall hard.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=jst+sim+uuu
The breakout on JST is significant. Looking at the charts on the IBD 100, you will notice that most major moves were preceded by a huge break out or gap where the stock finished near the high of the day. Look at AXR -- a top notch low float company that took a huge drop and recovered - after a big gap and several break outs! Even a purchase two weeks after the gap would have made you over $20 a share! (look at the gap up the 2nd week in November on high vol).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AXR&t=6m&l=on&z=m&q=c&c=
Both technicals (the impressive chart) and fundamentals (it is the leader in the wedding planning business) make KNOT the one to own. It is the one stop shopping place for brides to be and they have also branched out into dating services and home decorating. With weddings costing in excess of $50k, there is a lot of $ to be spent and advertisers know that this is THE place to put their money. And so you should put yours.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=knot
With GOOG putting out big money for sites like Youtube which have yet to make a dime, I feel that this company is going to be attracting a lot of suitors eventually. And I would like to be part of the nuptials.
One of the quiet winners this past week was getting a lot of activity on *** **** ***** board http://**********.net/forum/index.php?topic=250.45
Fous, who did some major dd on rice bran manufacturer, NTRZ, which increased by 50%, brought up another good one, military vehicle maker, FRPT.ob.
Force Protection builds some mean looking vehicles that can replace Hummer's hold on the market. They build vehicles that are IED and arms fire resistant, they are getting numerous orders and they just broke out Friday with an announcement that they are moving to a major exchange. This is definitely one to watch (it has been up 50% this week) and check out the banter on *** **** ***** board and check out the photos.
http://**********.net/forum/index.php?topic=222.0
Stocks I am keeping an eye on this week are:
OCN WDC NFLX (working on a box that can download dvds to your tv!) PSPT PRFT IIG BAMM HCL NSTC
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=frpt.ob+ocn+wdc+prft+pspt+knot+iig+bamm+hrt+hcl+nstc+ntrz+
And do not forget the big guns of the 90's, CSCO and ORCl, which are coming back.
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. There is a lot that we should be thankful for: good health, good family, good friends and the freedom to enjoy them. Eugene
11/27/06
Use what works, throw out what does not work. - Bruce Lee (Describing his new form of martial arts)
There were some good stories this week as Chinese software company EFUT rebounded from its drop to 32. The stock bounced back to 48 and settled around 45. Big trader Susan still thinks it is a buy.
The excitement of holiday gifts is in full throttle. AAPL hit 90 with anticipation of the i-phone and a box that will allow you to download your video clips to your TV. Video games continue to be hot with the new Wii allowing players to be physical participants in the game (by swinging swords or a tennis racket with the actual motion). It will be good to see the kids working out something besides their thumbs on the controllers.
One stock which got a lot of attention this week was ZVUE. They have an i-pod type handheld device that allows you to download videos to it. I am not sure of the importance of this, but the stock has a low float and the price has been surging.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=ZVUE&t=3m
Computer seller, SYX, a hot company a few months ago, came through with some great earnings numbers and bolted 17% on Friday. The chart is very attractive with this breakout.
There appeared to be some accounting problems in October, before the dip, but that has been forgotten for now. Go figure,
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=syx
Motley Fool likes CRYP. This Canadian company provides software for online gambling companies. They have a pe of 9 and a ton of cash. A ban of online gambling in the US will put a dent in their earnings, but they are growing a nice steady business.
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06112429.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=y&npu=y
In today's IBD, there is a significant article on the new direction of GIGM. They are a leading internet gambling company in Asia, but the article explains how they are expanding into different areas to diversify their business. In the 3rd q, net income jumped 278% and sales jumped 118% from a year ago. They are #1 of IBD's list of internet software companies. I have been a long term owner.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=gigm
As chip makers are regaining their place of honor in the market, NUHC is coming back. They are showing once again, good earnings and their chart shows they are working on the right side of a cup. Very promising.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=NUHC&t=3m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
I continue to hold steel maker SIM and am tempted by STLD, another rolled steel maker.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=STLD&t=1y
CHINA, PWEI, HRT, ANGN, NTRZ, KNOT (I still think the wedding planner is a key holding) CWTR (last weeks bad forcast puts this stock on the short leash) CSCO, FRPT (the armoured vehicle maker signed a deal with AH last week) continue to look good.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=china+pwei+ntrz.ob+csco+hrt+angn+cwtr+knot+frpt.ob+efut
Have a great week. Doing your shopping online is a big convenience. Amazon.com offers a wide selection of gifts and has no shipping charges on orders over $25! And there are always gift cards to make your gift giving easy.
Do an anonymous good deed this week. And do not tell anyone. You can keep the good feeling all to yourself. Eugene
Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others. - Aristotle, Yankee third baseman.
My random act of kindness this past week was throwing a toy in the Toys for Tots bin at work. I also badgered some people about buying FRPT and ZVUE.
The week was mixed, but several of my portfolio stocks did well. EFUT seemed to sell off during the week on decreasing volume. By Friday, I noticed that the stock was down 2, but the volume was drying up! That is the sign for a break out! By the afternoon, the stock was up $5, a very strong sign. Big Trader Susan was buying a ton of shares last week, along with ZVUE & RNIN!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=efut+zvue+rnin
ZVUE, Handheld Entertainment (and no jokes please of what YOU consider 'handheld entertainment', mister), had a wild week. First there was word that GOOG announced that it was going to allow Youtube video downloads onto VZ phones - that caused ZVUE to drop, but then it jumped 8% on Friday when it announced that it purchased a humor video website. Genius! It will use its own websites and likely tailor the system to ease the selection and speed the download!
RNIN is clearly a speculative name, but some traders may look at it as a long awaited secondary play on Focus Media (FMCN 66.44 -1.72), which has been a big winner. It's a bit of a stretch, but FMCN provides a similar digital advertising service in the China market while RNIN is in the US . There really are not any other FMCN plays, so momentum traders may want to keep it on the radar as a speculative play on any move in FMCN.
One of the most impressive companies I mentioned last week was FRPT.ob, the Armored vehicle maker. The company had a great week with a deal with defense contractor AH and a vehicle order. The stock was up 18% on Friday. A popular video on Meta Cafe shows their Buffalo vehicle encountering a roadside bomb in Iraq. The bomb explodes, and all that is damaged is a tire! Check out the site!
http://www.forceprotection.net/
Medical device makers, HRT and ANGN are looking great. Monday's IBD has a good article on ANGN!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=angn+hrt
As oil prices move up, the service companies get more interest. The Breakouts on favorites, BTJ and ALY could signal further interest in the stocks. These are two of the best under $20! http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=btj%2c+aly
In my longer term portfolio, I bought Chinese on-line school, EDU (they teach English on-line, very popular in the rural China communities) and rolled steel maker, STLD (the chart is a cup and it has been moving up with SIM). And more KNOT.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=sim+edu+knot+stld
I would watch COGO this week as the price was up 4% this weekend. The Chinese mobile handset maker is in my portfolio.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cogo
I have been noticing a growing interest in the stocks of consulting firms, like PRFT. It seems CEO's hire them at great expense. If the consulting firm does well and the company improves, the boss gets the credit. If things do not improve at the company, the consulting firm gets the blame! Money well spent!
Spend your money well this week and look for opportunities to do good in your community.
Eugene
Some good pix this weekend.
XNN might make a good run into earnings on 12/14. the company makes a super high power flashlight that is used by police.
I know some Big Traders who are scooping this one up for some big gains.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=xnn&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p
NVEC, the future of technology bounced off the 50dma.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=NVEC&p=DAILY&b=5&g=0&id=p
ZVUE should have its product on the shelves by 12/5/06
And some big gains for EDU, STLD, COGO & KNOT!
ADM may be looking like a buy and it appears that America is very gung-ho on ethanol!
Later, Potater!
Snowy
For NVEC, so how should we trade on NVEC? Long or short side?
I would not be adding to NVEC and I might have my finger on the sell trigger. When it sunk below 40, it was not a good sign. When it did not follow up on the bounce, it was not a good sign. The 50dma, about $38.50 is a key mark. For the future, the technology is great. I am not happy about how it is now trading. It is too close to the 50 to make a call either way - either it will bounce or fall.
Now I have more confidence in KNOT, RNIN and XNN.
And btw, David made a great call on GOAM - up 40% today!
12/11/06
I would not fear a pack of lions led by a sheep, but I would always fear a flock of sheep led by a lion. - Alexander the Great, ruler
You drive down the road and another car is coming in the other direction - with lights so bright you have to turn your head. It is very likely that jackass is using xenon headlights.
Now, imagine you are a police officer and you shine that type of light in a dark room - you could see everything - and any person in the room would be blinded. This is the type of flashlight XNN sells and it is getting very popular.
The stock jumped up 18% today and earnings are Thursday morning b4 the open. I suspect it will rise into Thursday and as far as how it will react to the earnings and the coming news conference is any-ones guess.
Another big winner this past week was GOAM. Again they make aids for the hearing impaired. They have a program that will allow a deaf person to read sign language over the internet. Why that is needed instead of closed caption, I don't know. What I do know is that the US govt will subsidize the cost of the program and GOAM should make a windfall. I can see 10 by the end of the year and more next year.
China is still hot. My stocks, CHINA, AOB and EDU are doing well. It is a good place to diversify to.
DIVX, the company that formats videos has been picking up steam and looks like it can be a monster. It is making substantial deals with GOOG and the like and has a lot of potential.
Credit card reader company, PAY is showing that it is growing rapidly with acquisitions that will soon make it a leader in Europe. The long term potential of this company is great.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=wst+pay+divx
Another one I like now is NHWK. This company allows hospitals to outsource their radiology work. Someone goes to the hospital in the middle of night, gets some X-rays and they are sent via e-mail to Australia to be diagnosed. Brilliant! The company had a recent break out - watch it to follow through.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nhwk
Another one to watch, if not buy, is NTRZ.ob - the company that makes rice bran. The stock is inching up. The company makes food out of the waste of rice. This is tremendous. Please check it out.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NTRZ.OB
Today there were some great moves on some from the IBD 100 list - AXR, COGO, MIKR (the volume grows every day - this will be huge) and NSTC which is very buyable now.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nstc
Mr. Market is very high on CHAP - I like SIM and STLD, but Mr. Market is good sometimes - look at AXR!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CHAP&t=6m
Have a great week of investing. Use your head and be patient. I do this not as an advisor, but for my own entertainment. Enjoy. Snowy
12/17/06
"It's not the years, it's the mileage." - Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark
XNN, super flashlight maker, came out with some awesome earnings - beyond anyone's expectations - and promptly, the stock plummeted. The three days going into Thursday's earnings looked bad and Thursday was just a heartbreaker. The stock is still a winner - and despite being down over 20%, I still have confidence that it will recover. The product is in high demand, there is a backlog of orders and I believe the panic selling was from speculators and not investors. At $2.50, you may want to wait for an upswing, but it is worth the gamble and if your are still a holder, be patient - this will pay off.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xnn
ZVUE, the maker of handheld video devices took a tumble when it was reported that the device was not in Wal-Mart stores as reported. It seems to be in stock on their on-line store now. What bothers me now is that the competition for new gadgets is fierce and whether the toy can gain an audience. Look at MSFT's Zune - still getting its butt kicked by i-pod.
Steel makers took a hit early in the week when it was reported that NUE had a surplus of stock and China was cutting back. This hit STLD and CHAP, but had a delayed reaction on SIM, which dropped 20% last week. It bounced a bit on Friday to stay above 15 - the rumor is that there is going to be a secondary offering. The price they were talking about was 20 (when it was above 20). I still like the stock and am sticking with it. It is a small and flexible company that can handle any major downturn and I am still not certain for the drop. If it falls below 15, I might have another opinion.
It was a good week for China stocks - Private school EDU is featured in today's New America in IBD and JST been showing massive gains. Herb seller, AOB, which has been doing great got a stunning writeup from $$$MR. MARKET$$$
http://www.mrmarketishuge.com
unfortunately, he has had the kiss of death on a few of his prior suggestions.
the company is going on the NYSE this week which will give it added exposure. It is currently resting on its trendline, and I will watch it slowly. CHINA has broken its trendline and was sold at a 34% profit.
Not surprisingly, right after the US elections, gas prices began to rise and BTJ and ALY have exploded in kind. Neither are in buy range right now.
A few goodies I picked up this week were thermal imaging company, MIKR (unique cold imaging product used by military), RAD (the chart looks great on this inexpensive drug store chain that is recovering from a scandal), and ONT (the chart shows that this stock peaks in price every January).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=mikr+rad+ont
Ones I am looking closely at are retailer, CWTR ( the chart is recovering due to a good retail market. The company is great, the stock was ill - this is a buy!), AZ, (the boring German life insurance company with a stock that has been steadily rising) and STEC (got a great write up in IBD. When Sandisk stopped making chips for handhelds, STEC picked up the ball and has been running with it for great gains - this will soon be over 15!).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=cwtr+stec+az+stld+sim+chap+aob+zvue
"To see what is right and not do it, is lack of courage" - Confucius
Have a great holiday! One of the best gifts you can give to anyone is "attention". Listen to people, compliment them, make them feel welcome and appreciated. It does not cost much, but will make a world of difference in someone's day. And Smile - it will make you feel good too.
All the best for a prosperous week. And relax, I got your back! Eugene
1/3/07
The surprising thing about young fools is how many survive to become old fools. - Doug Larson, humorist
I was writing to Susan the other day how much free time I would have if I did not have to worry about my stocks.
I could learn a foreign language, travel the globe, concentrate on my job, learn to sail.
I take about 3 Tae Kwon Do classes a week for the past many years, plus home study (do the forms, read "Black Belt", watch reruns of "Kung Fu"), with the same effort, I could have been a lawyer!
A friend of mine was talking about going back to school to become a teacher. She complained, however, that by the time she completed the course, she would be over 40 years old! I said "well how old will you be in four years if you do not go back to school"?
Time marches on whether you march with it or not!
Make the best out of this new year, once it is gone, it is gone.
The best of the last stock week looked like a good Chinese menu as some great dishes were served.
CPSL - a new Chinese steel company did a reverse merger - cheaper than an IPO, a private company merges with an existing listed company to become a new stock. This was on fire Friday and may have more to go. This followed on the footsteps of IPO chemical company, FFHL, which had a wild ride last week (it was a low volume week) with big swings, this is a profitable company with a low float like EFUT. Speaking of which, EFUT looks like it is setting up a bullish flag and may soon move up. It is also a low float, very volatile company.
Some low priced Chinese companies like CHINA and COGO are still looking good - with CHINA making a good reversal this week, it seems stronger than ever. AOB showed some strength, but pulled back and I am not that confident that its next move will be north.
<!--http-link--><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=china+cpsl+efut+ffhl+aob+cogo+edu" target="_blank">http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=china+cpsl+efut+ffhl+aob+cogo+edu</a><!--end-http-link-->
DIVX opened the door for the video compression market and though that stock has cooled, tech-wreck survivor, ONT and FORG are getting a lot of attention. ONT which peaks every January got an upgrade and rumors of a buyout and FORG has been surging on high volume interest.
<!--http-link--><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=forg+ont+divx" target="_blank">http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=forg+ont+divx</a><!--end-http-link-->
Insurance company, AMSF, which specializes in workers comp for hazardous industries looks especially good as it made the IBD 100 last week.
<!--http-link--><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=amsf" target="_blank">http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=amsf</a><!--end-http-link-->
Some interesting charts that may be of interest:
NVEC - Broken trend, looks like the time to short.
BTJ - got the pullback last week - it is ready to rise again. Gas prices will not go down until the next election.
ATHR - Bullish flag breaking to the upside. I can see 27 on this one.
CLS and CRMT seem to be making a reversal formation
<!--http-link--><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=1y&s=CLS&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=cmrt" target="_blank">http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=1y&s=CLS&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=cmrt</a><!--end-http-link-->
MR - Chinese medical device maker and JST, Chinese software maker both bounced off the 10week moving average and can do well even if the Chinese stock momentum fizzles!
SYX has a large management ownership and is back in the uptrend.
<!--http-link--><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=nvec+athr+mr+btj+aly+syx+dlb+inwk+jst+ntgr" target="_blank">http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=nvec+athr+mr+btj+aly+syx+dlb+inwk+jst+ntgr</a><!--end-http-link-->+
And here is a word from Investor Information Center, whose pick of the year is MPEL!
IIC has a list that kicked butt on the IBD 100!:
New for 2007...I added a number of indicators today to the IIC 100 charts at the Public Chart Lists at Stockcharts.com
Please take a look <!--http-link--><a href="http://trimurl.com/A31" target="_blank">http://trimurl.com/A31</a><!--end-http-link--> and don't forget to vote.
FWIW...On this week's IIC 100 I think the following are worth keeping an eye on short term:
ACLI,BRKR,CAAS,CRNT,GEL,GSOL,IFSIA,IGLD,KOP,LDL,MTOX,PLXT,SLP,SWHC,UCTT,VDSI
Have a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year! - Snowy
1/10/07
Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take place within the problems - Nelson Rockefeller
Limiting my losses is a primary goal of mine when it comes to stocks. Even the good ones fall. And when it comes to speculative stocks, they must be kept on a very short leash. XNN, the super flashlight stock that took off like a rocket, the next TASR, fizzled. But my rule to sell if it drops 15% off its high saved me money as it continued to plummet - even after an encouraging conference call. Buying as a stock bounces off the 10 week moving average has made me some recent money as medical device maker, MR provided that opportunity.
AAPL has been up $10 in the past 2 days - the announcement of the I-phone was not a secret, yet the stock jumped. Steve Jobs seems to be a modern day Thomas Edison and has refocused the company with new innovative products - and the stock will likely go higher.
Military vehicle maker, FRPT.ob, after their deals with major military contractors General Dynamics and Armor Holdings got great write ups in IBD and in the new Forbes. They will move from over the counter to the Naz on January 18! The stock is now over 18! It was less than a buck a year ago!
http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/10/military-armored-vehicles-biz-washington-cz_ms_0110nasdaq.html?partner=yahootix
In the same mold, I like MTSX. Metal Storm makes a gun that fires 1000 bullets a minute!! Too deadly? Probably, but that never stopped anyone. The US military has used their products in airplane drones and robot soldiers. The stock has doubled in the past few months and is looking at contracts with the Navy. This is a new type of gun (look for the video on Youtube) that can revolutionize warfare. It hit $3 today.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=uctt+kpn+divx+aapl+mo+gs+hal+rad+lvlt+divx+stec+mtsx+sirf+frpt.ob+ont
Two stocks that have beautiful charts and just broke 15 - which mean that the IBD crowd will be watching - are KPN and UCTT. Watch for them on the IBD 100 if they can hold it thru Friday.
GPS chip maker SIRF got an upgrade earlier in the week and looks great. The company makes chips that will soon be featured in all cell phones. That way, if you are lost in the Andes , and you call for help, we can find you!
I am still hot on Wedding site, KNOT, which is hanging on its 10 wk moving average. I think this is buyout bait and one of the best internet plays out there.
The market is choppy and getting near overbought. Make a profit and get out. Stay away from the speculative junk, it is not for you. Snowy
I always enjoy reading your updates, keep up the outstanding posts :).
Still holding that MPW? That is one great stock it seems to be swinging around in the 14.00-15.50 range waiting to break out again.
Snowy, do you own CPSL and/or FFHL ?
Yea, I still own MPW - actually bought more when it took the dive and I still reluctantly own FFHL. Bought at 15, so I am still hurting. Almost sold that sucker - I think it will recover. There is a lot of opportunity in China, but you have to be careful. It is cooling down for now a little. I would stay away from the state owned junk (too much corruption) and the tiny companies tho. Solar panels are doing great. They are cheap and many folks do not have hot water!
Chinese internet and travel also offer a great opportunity.
11/12/07
Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. - Alexander Graham Bell
The stock market was picking up pace as earnings season gives signs of brightness!
Armored vehicle maker, FRPT.ob is getting plenty of good press as it gets set to go on the Naz. The stock has doubled since I first raved about it a few months ago.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/general/10332262.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
Up another 7%, it seems to be going up very fast. For the past two days, I have tried to buy more, but it opens much higher than my bids. Maybe on Tues. I should just bid $100! Actually, I am looking for the first down day or drops in volume as I might look to take a hefty profit. Some stocks, like NTRI, blast off when moving to the Naz where the funds can buy it. Others flop.
UCTT finished strong and over 15. I plan to see this one high on the IBD 100 tomorrow!
Sign maker, RNIN, has bounced back with style. I was down almost 15% on this and I am now ahead about 20% - I also had a great recovery with HMSY.
Speaking of which, Chinese chemical co., FFHL, had a major bo, up 10%. The numbers on this one look good and I think the potential is very good for a major move!
The other rebound story, SYX, a computer seller, fell hard in October, but has found footing and is back in an up trend over 20!
Wedding planner, KNOT, was up again today, nearing 30! It is still the best bet for a possible buy out. There is real value here!
AAPL took a minor drop today as the new I phone will be costly to consumers, uses unpopular Cingular and CSCO has a copy write on the name!
Cramer picks LVLT and RAD are looking great and GS, it seems, is not BS! Moving up daily.
Think of how great it is to live in a country that has such a great deal of racial tolerance. Many people fought hard to get it in the US and many are fighting to establish it in other countries. Take care. Eugene
Snowcat take a look at LTC you may like it. Its similar to MPW potenial looks great for future gains very undervalued.
LOOks safe with a 5% div. I like the growth in MPW. Long term care facilities are a growing business, but I can get 5% from my bank.
It looks like it trades in a channel. Right now I am watching the market.
Got hit bad today in STEC, COGO and KNOT (and others)
I sold all but 100 shares of FRPT on Wed., the first red day in a month. Made 40% after selling after the first drop and making about 40%. It will come back - the whole market sucked today. I also sold CSCO Wed. for an 11% gain
I bought some ONT, some more GIGM, SLP and MTSX.
All else is Douche!
The divy for LTC is not as nice as MPW but it has a chance for nice PPS appreciation espically at the current levels it is at. I am trying to diversify into about 3-4 medical REITS. I have MPW currently was going to add some LTC tomorrow more then likely. I was looking at SNH but it seems a little overvalued at the current prices.
There is an article today on Long Term Care facilities in IBD today. I do not find it too exciting and neither does wall st. for that matter.
You might want to look at the list of REITS and their div in ibd. A few interesting ones to look into.
I just got pummeled on fri with CWTR and EDU. I should be in a good mutual fund.
02/05/06
I don't get headaches - I give them!
Cold weather is hitting NY and I am amazed at how many people would rather "look good" than keep warm. And "looking good" is debatable in a lot of cases.
The Super Bowl was a dud and I felt sorry for those people who spent $4000 for a ticket and sat in the rain for four hours, but to each his own.
Computer seller SYX made it to #1 on the IBD 100 - usually the kiss of death, but I will enjoy it while I can.
I got into SYX at 16 from a great report by David Randolph from 3 Stocks on Fire. A fantastic place to look for exciting stocks and the home of some of the top ta guys around. They also have a premium service from where I picked up SYX, RAD and PCU.
http://www.3stocksonfire.org/trading/index.php
SLP made a nice move today. They do drug simulations and projections - which is important if a drug company wants to get an idea of how the drug will perform.
I am still hot on GIGM, the Asian internet gaming and gambling company. The stock recovered from its slump and is in the two hottest places right now.
On that subject, the top ten under $10 features some very attractive stocks - including TSTC which looks like is bound for higher prices. Check all of the top 10:
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/ibd020507.html
Ready for a great chart and an 8% yield? How about a REIT - NRF - one of the best around. No junk investments here!
I bailed on FFHL, the Chinese chemical company, though the volume is drying up and it may be looking at a bottom soon.
Also flashlight maker, XNN walloped me. I held on because I have a small number of shares and it looks like it is finally putting in a base.
A cheapie I like is OPBL.ob. It is a profitable options trading platform that made a deal with NYMEX to trade certain derivatives. This gives them a lot of credibility!
Armored car maker, FRPT has not recovered from the news that their 2000 truck order from the military was actually a total order from about 10 different manufacturers. They might have sold a handful there. I would watch for a base to form and get back in. It went up awfully fast and many of those shares sold for +$20 were bought under a buck a year ago.
The market has been pretty high recently and if you are expecting a dip, watch NYX. The stock has been pumped by CRamer, they missed earnings by a penny, and the lock-up period ends in May. I think it can be about 10 points lower.
Remember your sell rules and I may dress stupid, but I keep warm! - Eugene
try this out, bucky!
This will boggle your mind... Take your time and follow the instructions.
1) Go to the link below. After reading each window click on the boy in the lower right corner.
2) In the last window type in your answer in the white box using the keyboard (there is NO cursor). You will be amazed....and no, I don't know how it's done .
Click here: http://digicc.com/fido/
I'm issuing an Amber Alert for Snowcat :o
Thanks for thinking of me.
But after looking at my trading performance last year, I speculated too much and bought back stocks after I made killings on them and blew away all my profits.
You would not believe how much GIGM, JSDA and BTJ I owned - and most of it I gave away for bupkis!
I did best when I was most patient. Look at some of the drops GIGM and BTJ took over the past year - only a real confident investor would have held.
Now that I have a job whereby I cannot check the market 10 times a day, I have a feeling I will be more patient.
I am looking for more established companies with earnings and avoiding the ob's and the pink sheets. This is such a corrupt market place. For all we know, ICE could be the next ENRON! They just about do the same thing.
FRPT - who knew there was so much competition out there in that market! I suggested that they build trucks with explosives already built in them and sell them to the insurgents!
Aside from GIGM, I still own steel stocks, solar stocks, NTRZ and some crap that I'm down 50% on and it likely won't make me feel any better if I sell it.
I have stopped reading stock newsletters and checking out the boards because those are the stocks I have been getting killed with. Penny stocks are there for a reason and every one I buy has been on bad faith. Look at BRVO - read the 100's of posts on that one - it seemed like a slam dunk! Live & learn
I have enough capital losses, that at $3000 a year, it can carry me into the next lifetime.
I still like NTRZ, also VOLC and probably a few others. I will try to be more active here - but basically, my portfolio has not really changed much.
This year I will try to trade smarter and make you smarter too.