Stock Picker Thread-2008

Discussion in 'Finance, Investing & Economy' started by Footer Phooter, May 27, 2008.

  1. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    Better late than never. ;)

    I'm still dabbling. Here's what I've got at the moment:

    OXPS
    GOOG
    ED
    WWE


    I've done OK this year, considering the market. I've almost broken even. :rolleyes:

    Anyone else got any stocks?
     
  2. prk166

    prk166 BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 8, 2000
    Med City
    I'd have to look when I'm at home on what ones I'm considering. A couple that I've got right now :

    Apple Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:AAPL)
    Potash Corp./Saskatchewan (USA) (Public, NYSE:pOT)
    Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (Public, NYSE:BNI)
    Rock-Tenn Company (Public, NYSE:RKT)
    Transocean Inc. (Public, NYSE:RIG)
     
  3. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    Just added some CELG.
     
  4. Levante

    Levante Member+

    Jul 28, 2001
    I'm a little bit up this year.

    I have:

    MDRX
    F
    PKD

    My stock investment strategy is risky as I set aside most of my money in a more diversified portfolio. Call me crazy, but I'm buying more F and I'm considering buying a lot of C at the end of the summer.
     
  5. topcatcole

    topcatcole BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 26, 2003
    Washington DC
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've been buying up some financials. Not doing so good this year (and the last 2 weeks in particular have been pretty bad) but they are still making their dividend payments and I'm holding them for the longer term.
    MMAB- No dividend
    NCT - 13.85% Dividend
    NLY - 13.62%
    PGH - Canadian energy trust - 13.5%
     
  6. Levante

    Levante Member+

    Jul 28, 2001
    I hear you about the financials but it's just too early to do that.

    I'm buying C in a few months.

    For now, I plan on buying KG as I think it's a solid company that can be bought for a low price.

    Also, am I crazy for buying more F?
     
  7. topcatcole

    topcatcole BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 26, 2003
    Washington DC
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think you are right about the financials. I am also short on some of the same stocks (via put options). I think you are probably right to hold off. If I wasn't already holding and basically looking at banking the divis, I wouldn't get in now.

    Personally, I am short on both GM and F. It will be several quarters before either is profitable, and even then they may never get away from their debt load. They are both retooling as well which will cause a lot of capital to be burned before they start to see a dollar of income. But I could be wrong!! :D
     
  8. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    Sold the OXPS @ $23 a couple of days ago. If the market continues to slide, I'll put that money back to work. Not sure what I'm going to put it in though.
     
  9. Levante

    Levante Member+

    Jul 28, 2001

    I'm not into options trading...yet. But I probably never will be.

    You and everyone else that is shorting F is hurting me. :D Truth be told, F was profitable in first quarter of 08, but commodity prices (both for production and obviously oil impacting consumers tastes) have really hurt Ford. You're right, it will be several quarters before Ford is profitable, but I think they will turn it around in about a year. They need to continue to fit their business to actual needs (less trucks, SUV's), continue to hammer the point that Ford is just as good as Toyota, and continue to buy out expensive workers. In the meantime, if I can grab more F at $5 or so, I'm happy.

    I am very bearish on GM. They do not have enough cash as F (due to sale of assets such as Jaguar and Landrover). They will need to sale more assets to get some more capital.
     
  10. D.C. Beast

    D.C. Beast New Member

    Jan 30, 2007
    DC
    For anyone interested in adding an Nat gas comp to there portfolio check out:

    TGC

    Go dig into the financials. Looking at current oil and gas prices it has a forward PE lower than its current. Ride this wave to into the beach.

    MarketGrader currently has a BUY rating on TENGASCO INC (TGC), based on a final overall grade of 79.1 scored by the company's fundamental analysis. TENGASCO INC scores at the 98th percentile among all 5298 U.S. listed equities currently followed by MarketGrader. Our present rating dates to June 12, 2008, when it was upgraded from a HOLD. Relative to the Oil & Gas Exploration & Production sub-industry, which is comprised of 158 companies, TENGASCO INC's grade of 79.1 ranks ninth. The industry grade leader is ST MARY LAND & EXPLOR CO (SM) with an overall grade of 85.9. The stock, up 328.07% in the last six months, has outperformed both the Oil & Gas Exploration & Production group, up 46.85% and the S&P 500 Index, which has returned -11.08% in the same period.

    and for more info check out this blog:
    http://www.stockstop.blogspot.com/
     
  11. prk166

    prk166 BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 8, 2000
    Med City
    Not a stock for me. Their normal volume is very sparse and the stocks done nothing for 5 years. Smells like a small poorly managed company getting a very recent huge stock price spike due to some sort of speculation. Why bother with it when there are plenty of well managed energy companies that are getting a recent "energy is hot" boost on top of gains from being welll run?
     
  12. soccernutter

    soccernutter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Tottenham Hotspur
    Aug 22, 2001
    Near the mountains.
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    A friend in the banking industry suggests the large banks such as BofA and Citi (those two were mentioned specifically). They got hit and dropped a ton he figures they should have just about bottomed out. On that advice, the wife is looking at doubling her shares of BofA, which has jumped in the last few days since that suggestion was made.

    On that suggestion, I'm looking changing my 401 to something with more Chase/Citi/BofA in it.
     
  13. topcatcole

    topcatcole BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 26, 2003
    Washington DC
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I just hope GM continues to manage the same way. Puts for everyone!
    I also took a chance on BIDU and put in some calls just before the close on Wednesday. They doubled yesterday. I wish I had more 100% gains in 24 hour deals! Then maybe I could get back to even. :D
     
  14. D.C. Beast

    D.C. Beast New Member

    Jan 30, 2007
    DC

    Yea I just bought CHK instead.. very cheap right now, target price by next year is $90.00 also the CEO just can't stop buying shares from his own comp. :D
     
  15. prk166

    prk166 BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 8, 2000
    Med City
    Looks like you're 9 months late to the party. Why buy now? Why not wait for it to start trending up again before buying? I doubt that it's recent tanking is due to Seattle Sonics fans dumping the stock. What is causing the drop and how likely is that to get turned around?

    What's the scoop on an energy company have having a -8% profit margin for Q1 2008????
     
  16. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    I've had a very good week. Finally got back ahead on UNH, and have done very well on CELG. Even WWE has rebounded a little. Up 3% on the year so far.

    Holdings:

    CELG
    UNH
    GOOG
    ED
    WWE


    Not sure where I go from here. I'm not a huge fan of having my two largest holdings be both health-care related, so I'll probably take my profits in one of the 2.
     
  17. Levante

    Levante Member+

    Jul 28, 2001
    Earlier in this thread I wrote about waiting on the financials....and I'm still willing to wait a little bit more. No sense in trying to be the hero and still make a good buy.

    C is what I'm targeting (it's cheaper than BOA) but there are some others that could be steals such as Fifth Third and maybe...maybe NCC.
     
  18. Levante

    Levante Member+

    Jul 28, 2001
    Exactly.... energy stocks will remain high, but the run is over now that traders are shorting those commodities and because of less demand due to high costs.
     
  19. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    Sold UNH today @ 28.30, which represents about a 10% gain from where I bought it on July 1.
     
  20. topcatcole

    topcatcole BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 26, 2003
    Washington DC
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Good deal. I'm pretty happy about my puts on GM and FNM these days!
     
  21. prk166

    prk166 BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 8, 2000
    Med City
    just curious what prompted you to sell it.


    A few I'd recommend checking out :

    Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:CALM) : $37.90
    Kansas City Southern (Public, NYSE:KSU) : $55.01
    VisionChina Media Inc (Public, NASDAQ:VISN) :$25.04
    Patriot Coal Corporation (Public, NYSE:pCX) : $126.15
    Potash Corp./Saskatchewan (USA) (Public, NYSE:pOT) : $204.27
    Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:FSYS) : $37.42
     
  22. bostonsoccermdl

    bostonsoccermdl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2002
    Denver, CO
    Can you share your ideas on these?

    Are they individual picks or based on a fundamental screen?
     
  23. topcatcole

    topcatcole BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 26, 2003
    Washington DC
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It is a good day to have GM puts. $15.5B loss in 2Q, easily dwarfing the record high profit reported by XOM one day earlier.
     
  24. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    Well, I'd bought it as a trade, rather than an investment. (I've sold it 4 times this year.) It probably will go higher, but I had that and CELG as my two top holdings. I wasn't entirely comfortable with having my top two holdings being in the health care arena, even if it's managed care vs. biotech.

    I checked out your stocks. A couple of interesting ones in there, although I'm not generally a 52-week high investor. How long have you held these?
     

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