Personal
Portfolio
Home builders, materials and engergy led the way. I still don't quite know what to think of that....
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Well the 'religion of peace' is at it again...
Doesn't
help the markets though. Can't really fault the people living under the
thumb of 7th century monarchies for wanting a little freedom from
oppression.
Speaking of markets, this is seeming and
more more of a stock picker's market. There are still deals to be
had but it does take some looking.
One place to look is the REIT
and Alternative Investments sector. Companies in this area are
starting to use their reserve cash and are picking up some attractive
deals.
Just remember that REITs are required by their charter to
distribute @ 90% of their profits to share holders. In order to
make acquisitions, they have to make secondary share offerings which
dilute the value of existing shares. The payback hopefully, is in
greater profits.
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Personal Portfolio
Not
much of interest to me this month but one stock worth mentioning is
Newport Corporation (NEWP). The company had a great quarter and
got hammered because while the results were good, those in the analyst
sector didn't think they were good enough.
This
is a small cap company with a beta over 2, which means it can move
twice as far up and twice as far down is its tracking index.
I think it is still in the lower sector of its trading range and with some patience, will produce some nice results.
The
numbers and performance relative to the sector made it worth a 5%
position in the portfolio. Hopefully it will soon grow to a 10%
position.
Looking to make some spare change?
Have a look at the housing sector.
DR
HORTON (DHI) and Standard Pacific Homes (SPF) are two of my favorite
trading stocks. Both are currently trading at very attractive
levels.
I typically look for gains of at least 10% before
selling. Frequently the gains are higher when the housing sector
moves up. This is particularly true for SPF.
The only thing
really predictable about these stocks is their unpredictability.
Odds are you can make some decent change out of both of these but it
may take some time to do it.
Sometimes it can take
several months before the stocks really move. Other times in three or
four days one can make enough for a new IPOD in short order - as in the
case of my brother.
Either way, these two stocks are great for speculation but I would not consider either a core holding in this environment.
BGS Foods Soars
This
was a great way to start off a Monday. By Tuesday the stock was
worth over 6% of the portfolio. It's best to take some profits
and get the allocation back to normal, which in my case is 4-5% of of
the overall portfolio.
An alternative to drilling for oil - digging it.
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