A New Addition and a Couple of Potentials

Last week I added another stock to the portfolio. It's one that I found quite recently and shows good future potential. Also pays a solid 5% Dividends, and is rated at a 1 by Valueline.

Another thing going for this stock - I had a friend who is a financial analysis wonk run the numbers on this stock and he came back with an enthusiastic thumbs up. Now we are talking about creating a stock recommendation service with our pooled knowledge... but I digress. More on this at a later time.

Back to the new addition:

Name:                                BCE Inc.

Industry:                            Telecom Utility

Symbol:                              BCE
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               2
Technical:                          3
Approximate Price:            $48.00
Dividend Yield:                  5.00%
Industry Rank:                   25
Low Gain Estimate:            0%
High Gain Estimate:           25%

The only thing lacking is a price gain potential, but add it to the Buy list.

I'm also looking at a couple more Potentials.

Name:                                Santander Consumer

Industry:                            Financial Svcs. (Div.)

Symbol:                              SC
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               3
Technical:                          1
Approximate Price:            $23.00
Dividend Yield:                  3.7%
Industry Rank:                   12
Low Gain Estimate:            25%
High Gain Estimate:           110%

Not much you can complain about with this stock.

And one that I could not find in the Valueline survey:

Name:                                Nuveen Municipal High Income Opportunity Fund

Industry:                            Municipal Bonds (?)

Symbol:                              NMZ
Timeliness:                        ?
Safety:                               ?
Technical:                          ?
Approximate Price:            $14.00
Dividend Yield:                  5.00%
Industry Rank:                   ?
Low Gain Estimate:            ? %
High Gain Estimate:           ? %

This is a bond fund that invests in municipal bonds so the Dividends it pays are tax free, meaning they are more than they appear to be by your tax bracket.

I am actively looking at adding both these to the portfolio soon.

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Buying Spree ... wheeeee!

Another down day, another set of purchases. Now I'm starting to worry myself. Today I took the leap and converted the two stocks in yesterday's post They've Got Potential into Buys.

And I have a new stock to add into the Potentials pool. This one is in the Telecom Services industry and currently out of reach of the tariff war between USA and the rest of the world. It's highly rated and pays a handsome dividend (one of my favorite attributes of a stock), and with a recent merger it owns about 45% market share of the mobile phone service in India a market that is still growing.

Here are the details:

Name:                                Vodafone Group ADR

Industry:                            Telecom Sevices

Symbol:                              VOD
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               3
Technical:                          4
Approximate Price:            $22.00
Dividend Yield:                  7.96%
Industry Rank:                   47
Low Gain Estimate:            65%
High Gain Estimate:           160%

I am bullish about the potential of this stock, obviously, but I think it's with good reason.

They've Got Potential

A few stocks have emerged in my latest research screening that I am putting into my Potentials list. I managed to snag one of them yesterday when it was a down day; I wrote about it in my post Buy, Buy, Buy. The stock is up today in spite of a down market overall. Ka-Ching.

Now for some future prospects.

First a high dividend yielding Financial Services company that makes me a bit nervous. It's a small-cap company so all the details are not available to me in my subscription of the Valueline Survey. My concern about this stock is that it deals with real estate and mortgage backed securities (disturbing flashbacks to the financial crisis from a decade ago). But, at the same time it's ranked high in Timeliness and has a significant dividend rate. Fear still permeates the thought of owning this stock. It's probably one to watch like a hawk.

Here's what I know:

Name:                                Ellington Finance LLC

Industry:                            Financial Services, Specialty

Symbol:                              EFC
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               2
Technical:                          UNKNOWN
Approximate Price:            $16.00
Dividend Yield:                  10.15%
Industry Rank:                   UNKNOWN
Low Gain Estimate:            UNKNOWN
High Gain Estimate:           UNKNOWN

Another is a high flying company in the Financial Services industry that is very unique. This is a company that rents and leases small commuter jets to corporations and the rich. The company seems well managed and has recently upgraded a large part of its fleet of aircraft. So fly high while still staying on the ground with this stock. Hey, maybe there is a way for the 98% to take advantage of the massive tax cuts that got passed this year. 

Also can someone explain why this is a Financial Services company? Maybe because it helps the rich exploit tax loopholes?? WhatSayYou?

Name:                                Aircastle Limited

Industry:                            Financial Services, Diversified

Symbol:                              AYR
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               3
Technical:                          5
Approximate Price:            $21.00
Dividend Yield:                  5.35%
Industry Rank:                   30
Low Gain Estimate:            65%
High Gain Estimate:           140%

Still more to write about, but I'll leave that for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading. Comments are welcome.

Buy, Buy, Buy

I've been running "my research screen" on-and-off for a while now, but not managed to get down to the business of buying anything. Looks like writing about doing something actually motivates you to go ahead and do it too. Who knew!!

Anyway, jumped back into the market today, considering it was a down day, and managed to Buy one of five stocks that I have picked. Here's the latest acquisition:

Name:                                Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc

Industry:                            Steel

Symbol:                              SCHN
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               3
Technical:                          3
Approximate Price:            $27.00
Dividend Yield:                  2.80%
Industry Rank:                   4
Low Gain Estimate:            85%
High Gain Estimate:           200%

I picked it up near its low for the day and it had climbed back to almost even including broker fees by the end of the day. Here's hoping it continues to climb...

I have a four more Potentials lined up in the Steel and Financial Services industries. I'll list them in a separate post, optimistically tomorrow.

New Beginning

Another hiatus, another beginning.

This post will just take stock of where things are after this long absense. See what I did there, yup bad humor, a "dad joke" there to remind you how much you love to read my posts.

Moving on...

The portfolio is doing much better than it was when I last wrote about it, Ka-Ching, and there have been some purchases and sales. The one constant is that Novo Nordisk (NVO) is still suffering from its disastrous dive into negative territory Ka-Flunk. All the other stocks still in the portfolio are ahead and looking stable, if not looking up.

On to sales and purchases;

I've sold one stock from the portfolio. Happy to report that it was sold at a good profit (30%). MGE Energy, Inc. (MGEE) had started to stall out and the long term outlook for it was starting to look less than attractive. Also I have another stock in that industry in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP).

Two new purchases have been added to the portfolio. Remember the time I missed out on the Gold Rush? Well, I redeemed myself by catching another precious metal company at the right time; and this time I did not chicken out. Tahoe Resources Inc. (TAHO) is primarily a silver mining company, and is rated highly in the Valueline survey, with a good dividend, and a solid 3-5 year price increase potential. Oh and Royal Gold (RGLD), my "Gold Rush: missed opportunity" is currently priced below the good price that I almost bought it at, so that worked out in hindsight. The other purchase in the portfolio is Hanesbrand Inc. (HBI). This stock shows up in a couple of lists of significance in the Valueline survey; Timely Stocks and Highest Growth Stocks. Currently Tahoe Resources Inc. (TAHO) is showing a 10% profit Ka-Ching, but Hanesbrand Inc. (HBI) is showing a small loss ~3% Ka-Flunk, so the new purchases are a mixed bag.

I am also looking at a couple of Potentials, which I will cover in the next post.

Thanks for continuing to follow my (mis)adventures.
That's all folks!

Is There Anybody Out There?

I know, I know, it's been a while. 

But I do have a couple of excuses:

1. I got lazy; what can I say, happens to the best of us.
2. LIFE; like travel, a studio shutdown, layoff, job search, new job, etc., you know, simple stuff.

In any case, thanks for coming back to read my (mis)adventures. 

Let's dive right into it.

A lot has changed since I last wrote a post, so here are the updates.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) has been up and down, but currently stands at $769.89 putting me in the black on my average price with a gain of 4.65%, Ka-Ching! 

Fresh Del Monte (FDP) dropped in Timeliness and I decided to get out and Sell before things turned sour. I closed out my position at $41.833 locking in a gain of 5,44%, Ka-Ching! Unfortuntely, I fled too soon and the stock has climbed out of the funk and currently sits at $59.60 with it's Timeliness restored to 1, Ka-Flunk? WhatSayYou?

Novo Nordisk (NVO) has been through a trough, but has climbed out of it now. It's always been in the black for me though, and is currently at $55.42, a gain of 6.53%, Ka-Ching. As I've said before, they also paid out a $0.96 dividend, equivalent of a 1.78% return, double Ka-Ching.

I also converted another stock in the Potentials list into a Buy. Picked up a batch of Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) at $53.00. It is currently priced at $58.35 giving me a 10.02% gain, Ka-Ching. When I bought it it had a Timeliness of 1, it has since dropped to 2. Here are rest of the details.

Name:                                Paychex, Inc

Industry:                            IT Services

Symbol:                              PAYX
Timeliness:                        2
Safety:                               1
Technical:                          3
Approximate Price:            $53.00
Dividend Yield:                  3.11%
Industry Rank:                   14
Low Gain Estimate:            25%
High Gain Estimate:           45%

As you can see, it still looks like a healthy stock to hold on to.

I converted MGE Energy (MGEE) to a Buy in late March and bought a small parcel at $50.06. The stock has done well since then and is currently selling at $55.98 (after a bad couple of days) and still showing a gain of 11.67%. They also paid out a $0.295 dividend in May, making this another double Ka-Ching stock. But the market is fickle and so are investors (like me), MGE Energy (MGEE) has dropped to a Timeliness of 2 in the Valueline survey and I believe I've found a better alternative in this industry segment.

Name:                                CenterPoint Energy Inc

Industry:                            Electric Utility (Central)

Symbol:                              CNP
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               3
Technical:                          2
Approximate Price:            $23.47
Dividend Yield:                  4.35%
Industry Rank:                   3
Low Gain Estimate:            0%
High Gain Estimate:           25%

CenterPoint Energy (CNP) is a better stock in the same industry in many respects. It has a higher Timeliness, better potential for price increase, almost double dividend yeild, and half the price. I have added this stock into the portfolio with a Buy at $23.4805, and it is currently flat. I plan to Sell my batch of MGE Energy (MGEE) right after it passes its ex-dividend date, so I can get another dividend payout, Ka-Ching.

Finally, I moved quickly from Potentials to Buy on another good dividend paying stock that seems to have a solid track record for paying (increasing) dividends over a long time. 

Name:                                Reynolds American, Inc

Industry:                            Tobacco

Symbol:                              RAI
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               2
Technical:                          3
Approximate Price:            $49.02
Dividend Yield:                  3.69%
Industry Rank:                   17
Low Gain Estimate:            0%
High Gain Estimate:           30%

Solid fundamentals, and a Buy price of $49.6521; current price $48.99, well within the normal fluctuations to call flat. But folks, I have sinned, by buying a so-called "sin stock", a tobacco stock. WhatSayYou?.

Anyway, this has been a long update because of the inexcusable hiatus between posts, and I have given you a lot to contemplate. If you've taken the time to read to the end, I'd love it if you leave a comment and let me know what you think of the couple of WhatSayYou? questions in the post, or anything else.

Thanks for coming back.

Over and Out!

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016

Back again after a brief break.

I realize that I had planned to write a post once a week for this series, but given the limited size of my investment pool I found that I had nothing to write about on a weekly basis. So here I am after a bit of a hiatus with an update on my (mis)adventures.

Since the last time I wrote a few interesting events have transpired. 

One of my biggest Buy, Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) overtook Apple (AAPL) to become the company with the largest market capitalization effectively making it the biggest company in the world! But this major achievement has not helped the stock price keep growing. It currently sits at $718.85 well below the average price of my purchases. In the past week it has been well below $700 and so this is not as bad as it has been, but GOOG still earns a Ka-Flunk rating.

Fresh Del Monte (FDP) has been a bright spot in my portfolio. Currently sitting at $41.79 it is well above my Buy price of $35.54 and earns a Ka-Ching rating. Also the company sits well with some strategic moves that are likely to help it grow in the future.

Another update is that I converted one of my Potentials into a Buy. As you might recall, I had added Novo Nordisk (NVO) to my list of potential buys and it had immediately been struck by the "curse". Even still, I believed in the company and watched it as it struggled with the effects of the bad news. The stock dropped from around $55 all the way down to about $46 and in a couple of weeks had recovered to be back above $50. At that point I figured, the markets had forgiven and forgotten, and jumped in to Buy paying $52.03 per share. The current price is $53.07 giving me a narrow gain and also earning a Ka-Ching rating.

Meanwhile my sitting-on-the-fence stock Cal-Maine (CALM) keeps on laying golden eggs and is now priced at $54.91. I had the opportunity to buy in near $47, but I chickened out again (see what I did there?). Anyway, the Goose is still alive and well and I may yet buy it if I get the opportunity.

That's all I have in this installment...
Cheers!

Saturday, January 30th 2016

The "it's going to get worse before it gets worse." edition. 

As you already know one of my favorite money talk shows is Marketplace from American Public Media. Last week's wrap had a scary conversation about how things are going to get bad in the next few months. The conversation gave me pause about the timing of this (mis)adventure. Foolish as it seems, I am going to forge ahead with the best choices I can make with the knowledge I have, and take comfort in the knowledge that I have a reasonable amount of time before I retire so I still have time on my side.

On the sunny side, this is the first week that officially gets a Ka-Ching rating, a new tag that denotes that stocks in my Buy list actually made enough gains to put me into the "black" or took me higher up than last week. Both Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) and Fresh Del Monte (FDP) ended the week with gains. GOOG made great progress ending the week at $742.95, putting one of my batches well in the black and the other pretty close. On average though, I am 1% over. FDP ended the week at $40.81 giving me a current gain of 3.2%. This put a smile on my face in spite of the potential storm that is approaching.

This week I saw another manifestation of what I have referred to as the "Ownership Bias". At the grocery store while buying lunch time fruit in syrup things, I ended up buying the Del Monte brand over the Dole brand, just because I own FDP stock.

In the Potentials list I have a new stock this week:

Name:                                Novo Nordisk ADR

Industry:                            Drug
Symbol:                              NVO
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               2
Technical:                          3
Approximate Price:            $55
Dividend Yield:                  1.6%
Industry Rank:                    27
Low Gain Estimate:            20%
High Gain Estimate:           55%

Novo Nordisk (NVO) is a Dutch company that makes medications primarily for diabetes management, hemophilia, and other conditions. They have a had a strong 2015 and are poised to continue a good run this year too. Two new diabetes drugs have just received FDA approval and more drugs are well into the research and approval pipeline. They have a small (1.6%) dividend and a good price appreciation potential too. This is also the only stock given a Timeliness of 1 by Valueline in the Drug industry group. I foresee a good chance that I will convert this to a Buy in the next week.

Still on the bubble is Cal-Maine (CALM) which I should have bought when I first saw it. If I had I would have put away a gain of 5%-7% and also claimed the dividend that just passed the ex-dividend date. Maybe this will be the week I jump into this omlette too.

That's all I have this week. If you have been a regular reader, please leave a comment and tell me WhatSayYou?

Saturday, January 23rd 2016

The rollercoaster ride continues...

The market had yet another day of free fall, with 500+ point drop during the day. But by the end of the week the panic had subsided and the markets had levelled off to the levels at the beginning of the week. Read the weekly wrap from my favorite money program on the radio Marketplace.

In terms of current holdings this was a good week. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) jumped up close 36 points to approximately $725 and almost caught up to one of the batches that I are in my Buy list at $726.70. If this trend continues next week I will break out of the red on this Buy.

Fresh Del Monte (FDP) managed to stay about flat to just under the surface and ended the week at $39.36. This is below my purchase price of $35.54, but not too far to worry just yet.

Cal-Maine (CALM) which is still on my list of Potentials has been a tease. Jumping up and dropping back down but not really picking a direction in this volatile market. I am starting to wonder if I should commit to this stock and ride the waves or hold back a bit longer. My worry is no matter what I choose, it might end up being the wrong decision. Aargh! Maybe my 3 ( is it up to 4 this week ) loyal readers want to chime in and leave a comment to push me this way or that. WhatSayYou?

Last week I did not find any stocks that were good Potentials, so nothing new to report this time. 

Saturday, January 16th 2016

The market freefall continued in the previous week fueled by China, low crude oil prices, and the worry about the long terms effects of the Federal Reserve raising rates. 

All this meant that my previous week's Buy, GOOG continued its downswing and ended the week at $694.45, a significant further loss of investment, earning this week another Ka-Flunk rating. Still I am confident that the investment will pay off in the long term. A contrarian (read crazy) side of me is wondering if I should dig in deeper and buy some more. What would you do? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know WhatSayYou?.

Fortunately it was not all gloom and doom this week. Last week I found another stock for the Potentials list and immediately purchased it too, putting it into the Buy set. First the stats on the new find:

Name:                                Fresh Del Monte Products

Industry:                            Food Processing
Symbol:                              FDP
Timeliness:                        1
Safety:                               3
Technical:                         2
Approximate Price:            $39
Dividend Yield:                  1.3%
Industry Rank:                  28
Low Gain Estimate:            0%
High Gain Estimate:           25%

Fresh Del Monte (FDP), is a familiar name if you shop for groceries anywhere in the United States. You probably know them from the Del Monte brand of canned fruit that you have most likely purchased. Although the dividend yeild is not stunning at only 1.3% and the potential gain is a bit on the lower side, this seems to be a solid stock to weather the current storms. Also, it just got a bump in its Timeliness, from 2 to 1 and the Technical (short term price variance) rating has been bouncing between 1 & 2. The Food Processing industry has also been bumped up from 35 last week to 28 this week making this stock a worthy Buy.

I managed to pick up a few at $39.54, and in spite of the rough week the stock ended the week $39.36. A fraction lower than my purchase price, but not to the tune of the drop in my GOOG holdings. I will be watching this one like a hawk and probably taking my gains as soon as they get above 10%.

And now for the Greek Tragedy of the week. For ( the 3 of you ) that have been following my (mis)adventures from the beginning of this year, you know that I have had Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) on my list of Potentials. Well, I have still not purchased it and put it into the Buy set. Then last week as the entire stock market was in free fall, CALM managed to reverse gravity and advanced almost $4 on the day the market dipped 500+ points!! It ended the week at $49.39 over $3 higher than the start of the week, a gain of about 6.5%. Sadly, I missed out on this goose which laid a golden egg this week.

That's all folks!

Saturday, January 9th 2016

... Or a funny thing happened on the way to the market.

Two of my picks from last week CALM and FUN got downgraded by Valueline in the report that came out last week. CALM went from a Timeliness of 1 to 2 and FUN dropped from 2 to 3. This meant that FUN immediately Dropped out of my list of Potentials; I may consider it again if at a future date if it rises from the ashes. You know, with a stock symbol like FUN, how can you completely give up on it? 

CALM though is still on the Potentials list because a Timeliness of 2 is still considered a good or Timely stock in the Valueline universe. CALM also withstood the storm that came down on the market last week reasonably well, which is a great segue to the GREAT CHINESE MARKET DEBACLE of 2016.

The Chinese stock holders and the world in general have started to catch on to the hoax of the Chinese stock market. As a person of Indian origin, with a Chinese made knife still stuck deep in the back of my psyche, reference to the "हिंदी चीनी भाई भाई" ( Indians and Chinese are brothers ) days right before the Chinese People's Army attacked India, I have a deep suspicion of anything Chinese. So I am not surprised that the miracle of the Chinese stock market is just a mirage that is starting to fade.

Anyway, the instability meltdown of the Chinese market affected markets around the globe and I figured this would be a good time to buy some stocks that have dropped from their high perches. So, onward to the Buy(s) of the week.

I picked up a small quantity of GOOG at $744.475 and another small quantity of GOOG when the market dropped even further at $726.70. I thought this would be a good time to invest with the market on the downswing, but I underestimated the velocity of the downswing. The week ended with GOOG at $714.47 earning this week the Ka-Flunk label :-( . I am not worried about this because I believe the Google (Alphabet Inc.) is still a good investment and it will pay off.

Still on the list of Potentials is this stock from last week:

Name:                                Cal-Maine Foods

Industry:                            Food Processing
Symbol:                              CALM
Timeliness:                        2
Safety:                               3
Technical:                          3
Approximate Price:            $46
Dividend Yield:                  6.6%
Industry Rank:                  35
Low Gain Estimate:            0%
High Gain Estimate:           45%

The Industry ranking has dropped 3 slots to 35, the estimated yield is down to 6.6%, and both the Timeliness and Technical Ranks have dropped by one. But the price appreciation has risen to 0-45% to match the price drop showing that the stock still has the same appreciation potential. Also the price is only down a few points to a little above $46, so the stock dealt with the China crisis quite well. This makes sense because the company has no real exposure to Chinese markets. All this keeps the stock in the running as a potential buy.

That's all folks...