Archive for the 'Money/Investing' Category

Stocks Under $10 To Consider For Your Portfolio

Usual disclaimer: I am not a licensed investment advisor nor am I qualified to give financial advice…and if I own any of these stocks, I’ll let you know, etcetera, and so on, yada yada…yada.

I was reading an article yesterday on The Motley Fool by Brian D. Pacampara titled “5 Low-Priced, High-Star Stocks” and it got me thinking…I’ve had success with low-priced stocks in the past. Why not share those with you.

Brian and I both share the parameter for “low-priced stocks”: $10 per share or less…but no less than $1. He adds that

…nothing trounces Mr. Market quite like a $1 stock that moves into double digits over just a short period of time. Unfortunately, because of the numerous risks that low-priced stocks carry, these mega-multibagger returns don’t occur as frequently as one would hope.

Right-o. But I’ve got a pretty good track record if I must say. It’s really important to do your own due diligence when it comes to picking low-priced stocks. Really important. That should include industry and economy in addition to company-specific technicals or financial statements. And keep in mind that Brian runs his stocks through the Motley Fool CAPS “intelligence database” for a star rating as well.

Get To It Already: The Picks
One of the stocks Brian mentions is SIFY [Nasdaq]. SIFY (Sify Limited) is a company in India offers corporate network/data, Internet access, and online portal services. Two magic words here: India and Internet. “India” covers the “don’t put all your eggs in one [country] basket” (i.e., U.S.-only stocks). “Internet”, however, is the most magical word in my non-financial advisor opinion. According to a comScore Networks, the worldwide Internet audience has grown 10% (Jan 2006 to Jan 2007). India’s audience has grown 33%. I guarantee you Sify loves that number. I bought SIFY back in July 2006 with the anticipation that it would benefit from the improving Indian economy and infrastructure. As you can see in the chart below, I’ve lost some money. But I have faith…and it just barely busted my “don’t be a greedy pig” policy. For stocks under $10 per share, that means I generally sell them [1] when I’ve lost 15% or [2] when I gain 20%, unless they pay a dividend. And, of course, there are exceptions.

I don’t know alot about Brian’s other suggestions, so I won’t comment on them. But you can bet I’m going to take a look at them tonight. Here are a few others I’ve done well with and that I am considering as future investments. And like Brian, I’ll pawn them off as “ideas”…not recommendations.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Popularity: 2% [?]

What To Do When The Stock Market Is Closed

Well, I am a CNBC junkie. I think I’ve seen David Faber’s “The eBay Effect — Inside a Worldwide Obsession” about 30 times since it was aired in June 2005. Not sure what CNBC has planned for tomorrow other than some commentary about private equity and probably some talk about AT&T ending Cingular today. I’ve discovered a couple of blogs that should keep you busy. WallStreetFighter.com features funny trading stories, crazy pictures, and rants…all about money. Its very random, but I find it pretty entertaining.

The second blog is called BigBigNews.net. Tyler Haywood, aka. Haywood Jablome, uses an interesting format to blog…videos. Most of his videos are pretty hilarious; I’ve been keeping up since day one, which was January 2nd of this year. Anyway, while I posted about Where to Invest for 2007 as highlighted in SmartMoney Magazine, Haywood featured his own video post about the Top 5 Stock Picks for 2007 by interviewing people on “the street”.

Check these out today when you have a chance. I’ll still be asleep recovering from playing the 24 drinking game. Anyway, if you have your own recommendations, I’d love to hear about them.

…and Happy Birthday, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Track, Analyze, and Evaluate Your Trading Activity With Marketocracy

Since about 1998, I’ve been using Marketocracy to keep track of stock recommendations, tips, etc. They start you off with $1 million in bogus cash with which to shop around (which equals a Net Asset Value [NAV] of $10.00). So, if you read the SmartMoney Mag article about the Where To Invest In 2007, you can pick and choose stocks you would have purchased if you had the money. I managed to get my NAV up to about $22.00 with a portfolio that included 50% solid, bonafide stocks, and the rest with speculative stocks. After abandoning my portfolio for a couple of years, I had to rebuild my account back from just under a $2.00 NAV. Ouch. I’m at about $14.53 now.

Stocks are categorized in a variety of formats including industry, percentage held, and by how they are being traded by other Marketocracy managers. There are also helpful forums to discuss your stock picks or queries. There are over 60,000 users to date and counting.

Membership Benefits include

• Real trading environment (enter trades & watch them fill via our data feeds – the same ones used by the brokerages).
• Timely reports on your portfolio’s performance to help you evaluate & improve. You will also have the chance to upgrade to Premium Tools and take advantage of the tools of investment professionals.
• Full history of your trades.
• Proper calculation of your returns over time to gauge your ability.
• Industry portfolio management rules – the same ones that professional fund managers must follow.

And if you are interested in Premium Membership, you can get additional perks like real-time service and research for as little as $12.50 per month..and they give you 30 days for free to try it out.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Keep Track of Your Personal Finances In One Place

Have you ever wondered what you should do with “that nice Christmas bonus I got this year”? I always wonder. For some reason, I come to the conclusion that a new TV or something cool for my car like some big brakes or a Valentine One would be ideal. I’m sure you guys have something else in mind. When it comes down to it, I usually opt to reduce my credit card debt (what little is left), tuck some away in one of my retirement plans, or add to my kiddo’s Upromise 529 account (visit my post about Upromise in case you’re wondering how you can save money for your child[ren]‘s education).

Well, Jason Knight and Mark Hedlund, co-founders of Wesabe.com, created the interactive website in December of 2005 to “pool our knowledge…to take control of our money to reach our financial goals”. In a nutshell, the site works similarly to something like Microsoft Money where it keeps track of your finances (income, spending, etc) and makes suggestions based on your habits…and on the goals you set. They’ve even got a blog called “Wheaties For Your Wallet” with some tips and news with regard to keeping your finances in order. I could go on and on about the website’s offerings. Take a few minutes to watch the following video about how Wesabe works…and then pay them a visit.

Popularity: 1% [?]

SmartMoney Magazine: Where To Invest In 2007

SmartMoney Magazine recently published an article titled “Where to Invest in 2007″ by Russell Pearlman and Reshma Kapadia. The article visits past economic conditions and how that has played a role in the performance of stocks. Today companies are “generating more growth overseas, immunizing themselves against the swings of the U.S. economy”. Ok. So, where do we put our money? SmartMoney suggests the following industries:

This year’s sectors to watch are Investment Banking, whose deal-making is now global; Chemicals, boosted by cheaper energy; Internet, where ads and retail are here to stay; Insurers, which thrive amid disaster; and Beverages, since alcohol is recession-proof. In Emerging Markets, you can profit from the new global middle class.

There are some individual stocks they suggest we keep our eye on this coming year…in no particular order, of course.

• Dow (DOW) – With more than 60% of its sales coming from outside the U.S., the chemical giant (and they make plastic stuff too) has offset its increasing productions costs, which consist primarily of oil and natural gas, by increasing its prices. Best of all, insider trading is occurring, which is always a good sign.
• Yahoo! (YHOO) – Aside from the fact that Yahoo! is expected to earn 30% more in revenues, the company’s new paid search system, Panama, is being rolled out now to compete with Google’s already burgeoning ad system. Advertising expected to grow 20% annually for the foreseeable future. According to research discovered Daniele Guerini on seekingalpha.com, Yahoo generates $0.04 per US search vs $0.11 at Google. Panama could definitely help reduce the gap significantly. A reduction of the gap to a more reasonable 30% discount [$0.077 per search] would generate approximately $800M of extra revenues based on the number of searches…revenues generated at no extra cost.
• Diageo (DEO) – First of all, look at this chart…marvel with me. Thanks. Some might say that chart looks good enough to drink. In case you’re not familiar with Diageo, the company engages in the production and distribution of spirits, wines, and beer worldwide. It offers a range of premium brands, including Smirnoff vodka, Guinness stout, Baileys Original Irish Cream liqueur, Captain Morgan rum, and Tanqueray gin. Diageo’s other spirits brands consist of Crown Royal Canadian whisky, Seagram’s 7 Crown American whiskey, Seagram’s VO Canadian whisky; and beer brands comprise Harp Irish lager, Smithwick’s ale (pronounced Smith-icks for you non-beer drinkers), and Red Stripe lager. Last but not least, it also owns the distribution rights for the José Cuervo tequila brands in the United States and other countries. As everyone knows, people drink in both good times and in bad. Diageo has managed to keep its operating margins above 20%, and it offers an attactive 3.1% dividend yield. Even one of coolest mutual funds on the planet, The Vice Fund, includes Diageo in its holdings…#2 in its holdings at 4.36% of its fund (as of 12/14/2006, Morningstar.com). You can read more about The Vice Fund in my previous post. SmartMoney also picked this stock in 2004 and 2005. I wonder if they get free drinks. Even if they didn’t, how could you not pick them?

Read the entire article to see what other stocks the magazine recommends at SmartMoney.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

Does Your Current Compensation Reflect Your True Market Value?

While some are happy with their enormous salaries and rewarding careers, others often wonder “am I being compensated deservedly” and “…according to the market”. There are a number of popular resources available such as monster.com and CareerBuilder.com to help you find a job and get a general idea of compensation levels. But here are some that can help you get an idea of where you ought to be…categorically. The grass may not always be greener on the other side, but here are a couple of lesser-known but valueable services that might help you figure that out:

• SalaryScout: SalaryScout is an anonymous community of professionals whose purpose is to seek fairness in compensation. It is built around a network of users that offer various salary and compensation data (job title, salary, hierarchy within the organization, etc) to a specific job function. In addition to this interactive feature, SalaryScout offers regular posts with regard to “Career” (50 Common Interview Questions, How to be Ultra Productive) and “Compensation” (63 Salary Negotiation Resources, 10 Ways To Get The Most Pay)…and the service is free.
• PayScale: With the world’s largest database of individual employee compensation profiles, PayScale provides an immediate and precise snapshot of the job market. This service boasts a real-time profiling system, which indexes custom employee attributes (such as industry-specific certifications) and specific job titles for every industry…similar to SalaryScout. PayScale offers two tiers of membership: [1] My PayScale membership, which is free, allows you to create a profile and compare it to up to 3 other profiles of others with similar job titles as well as the ability to view job listings and educational opportunities related to your job. [2] Premium membership costs $19.95 and includes more specific job data comparisons to up to 10 similar profiles…and they offer a money-back guarantee.

The folks over at KnowHR.com make a good point with regard to using these resources:

‘Demanding’ pay and benefits based on [SalaryScout] is a sure-fire way to make yourself look foolish. Sure, have information. Know what you want to make. Get a sense of your value in the workplace. But know that there’s no single number for salary and benefits. And each company pays on a continuum for a given job. You can’t possibly think that you’re as valuable to a company going in as an incumbent with the same background and skills. Just beware.”

…and then there’s always blogging.

Popularity: 1% [?]

The Rebirth of CNBC.com on December 4

Behold!!! The Rebirth of CNBC.com. I wake up every morning to the show…quite the CNBC junkie. So what can you expect from the new website? In an effort to expand its audience with personalized stock profiles and analysis (similar to that of Yahoo! Finance), CNBC.com will more greatly emphasize videos to include Video On Demand through CNBC Plus. CNBC Plus also allows you to watch CNBC live right on your computer, so you’ll never miss a moment of breaking news, even if you can’t get to a TV. CNBC also delivers on-demand access to over 10,000 videos with over 500 more added every week. CNBC Plus will also be touted as the ultimate investing tool…allowing users to access market data and research for any company, industry, or headline that matters to you (I would guess that is limited to publicly-traded companies). A monthly subscription gets you:

• Video On Demand Three Commercial-Free Live Streams: CNBC U.S., CNBC Asia Pacific, and CNBC Europe
• Thousands of video archives CNBC US
• Exclusive global content CNBC Asia Pacific
• News, interviews, & analysis CNBC Europe

I just can’t wait for the next Squawk Box Fantasy Protfolio Challenge. Maybe they’ll give away an Aston Martin this time around, although a Maserati isn’t too shabby either. According to MMA Global, more than 20% of registered contestants opted in to participate in the mobile portion of the game. Thirty-five to 55% of participants responded to daily trivia questions. CNBC was able to introduce a new channel for interacting with its viewers and in doing so, have built an opt-in database of viewers for future promotions. You can pre-register for CNBC.com and get a jump on previewing the goods before it launches.

Popularity: 1% [?]