"Short and Sweet this week with a speculative pick of 3D Systems, (DDD), to expand your investment horizons"

Dow Jones Industrial Average  14,712.55  (UP) Week ending 04-27-2013 

Sometimes you need to go off the grid and just add a stock that is in such a new dynamic industry that their hyper potential growth makes the numbers look all kind of crazy. My daughter's boyfriend Ray mentioned these 3D printer stocks to her a few weeks ago as an area in which he thought he would like to invest, so I stored the idea away in my memory bank for further observation. 

So, this week, when I saw that a University of Texas student made an AK-15 rifle with a $1000.00 3D printer, out of composite parts, the light bulb finally went on in my head that you could build virtually anything with these 3D printers; anything.  And they are.

3D Systems Corp. (symbol DDD, $34.57) has the most revenues of any company in this 3D printer space, (354 Million in revenues in 2012), which also includes Stratysys , (symbol SSYS), and a bunch of smaller players.  

                                                      This is a speculative pick, so my 

normal metrics do not apply. Return on Equity at 10.82%, a little lower than my preferred 15%, but with a PEG ratio of 1.02, which is perfectly fine. 

3D has a contract in place to build composite parts for the Lockheed F-35. Now we're talkin'!

Your mind could go wild with what you can build with these printers.
How about prosthetic legs? Doing it!

You've just gotta own this thing and you need to buy some as soon as you can. If you are looking for a May swoon, start with a smaller position and average in on your buys.

Here are some numbers:  Projected Long Term earnings growth 20.88% . 5 year sales growth 30.90 %. Forward PE 33.45. The rest of their numbers are all over the place. They have a clean professional website, which I like in a stable company. 

The one year Total Return on the stock is 77.22% and the 3 year total return is 566.52%.  It has actually been quiet in the first 4 months of this year, so it's a good time to jump in. I bought 50 shares to start out with in my IRA this week. 

So, let's get building stuff, and raising revenues and making money. It all seems pretty straight forward to me.

Freewilly. 

"Sorry I missed you last week with the market at an all-time high. Taxes and Birthdays took away all of my time. But I'm back with Aqua America, (WTR), this week"

Dow Jones Industrial Average 14,865  (UP, All-Time High) Week Ending 04-12-2013
Dow Jones Industrial Average 14,547.51 (Down) Week Ending  04-19-2013

What a week! The Boston Marathon, the race that is the lifelong goal to which long distance runners aspire, Patriot's Day, and a treasonous, cowardly bombing attack on innocent children and bystanders. A week of hunting down and battling these terrorists on the very streets where our colonists fought the British to gain our independence as a country.  A town in Texas blown apart by a sudden explosion at a fertilizer plant with many people killed. Finally, last Friday, our cat Mia passed away and we buried her in our garden this morning. Life moves on. 

The forum of this blog is to bring you good investment ideas, no matter what is happening in the world, and I will do that today. Aqua America Inc. (Symbol WTR, $33.05) is the stock I would like to discuss. 

If you will recall, your monthly water bill that you receive today used to be the amount of the bill you received quarterly!! Water is a valuable commodity. Aqua America is a monopoly that keeps acquiring small water companies every year across the country and keeps adding to its coverage area footprint. Now to the numbers.

Return on Equity is 15.06% and the PEG ratio of 4.68. The PEG ratio is way above my norm, but the industry average PEG for water companies is 4.29, and WTR is growing faster than the others. The PE ratio of 23.39 also reflects that growth. 

The five year earnings growth for the company is 18.65% and 5 year sales growth has been 4.17%. Quarterly Profit Margins at the company are 38.09%. 2013 earnings are projected at $1.40 per share. 2014 earnings are  forecast at $1.49 per share. 

Revenue for 2012 was 758 Million dollars. The company pays a dividend that currently yields  2.12%. The real interesting numbers are these:  12 month Total Return 49.68% and 3 year total return of 87.28%.  

Aqua America Inc (WTR) can be a nice addition to your portfolio that should have some downside protection if the market starts going the wrong way. I say you can start taking positions in WTR right here this week.

It should be an interesting week coming up with Apple Computer reporting earnings this week. Let us hope there is a dividend raise and a buy back of shares. They have lost 250 Billion in market cap and can no longer remain mute to their stockholders.


Let's see if Gold keeps going down this week and if we are truly in a Deflationary Period in the economy. If we are, the plan will be to eliminate debt rather than invest in assets.  I will have to pick up a copy of A. Gary Schilling's, "The Age of Deleveraging, Updated Edition: Investment Strategies for a Decade of Slow Growth and Deflation" and study what we all should be doing with our money. 

Oh, and a last note; Memo to terrorists:  We are a people who were born out of a revolution for our freedom in this USA country. When you attack us, you just make us stronger and more united. One time a country surprise attacked us back in 1941. We ended up dropping two atomic bombs on them.  We have the medal to maintain our freedom in all circumstances. We welcome all liberty loving people and offer an opportunity to all nationalities and religions to join us here and around the world in peace and friendship.

Freewilly

"Who will be the key players in the coming USA boom in LNG and the transport of it? Certainly the Union Pacific Railroad will be a key player."

Dow Jones Industrial Average 14,565.25   Week ending 04-05-2014

We have gone through the many booms in our country, of Railroads, Oil, Steel, Cotton, Personal Computers, .Dotcom Internet and the Smartphone boom. Now we are on our way to the new boom of LNG, that is, Liquefied Natural Gas, and its impact on the economy of our country in the use, sale and transport of this abundant energy source.

One company with a transport system already in place is
Union Pacific Corp. (Symbol UNP, $138.54) with their ownership of the Union Pacific Railroad.

UNP has a Return on Equity of 20.57 and a PEG Ratio of 1.00, (YCharts has the PEG at 0.7263), so somewhere in that range but definitely in the Freewilly BUY range.

In 2012, the company delivered revenues of $20.93 Billion, so this is definitely a substantial Large Cap company. The company is already doing well before the LNG boom with 2013 earnings projected at $9.40 per share and 2014 earnings projected at $10.76  per share.The PE on the stock I have seen listed at 16.75 with a forward PE of 14.69. 

Union Pacific has a tremendous rail footprint covering 23 States in the Mid-West and West.
It has connections with Canada and it connects with all 5 Major transport points going to Mexico and Latin America. The map of their coverage is shown to the right. Also, if my memory serves me correctly, some years back Union Pacific laid in beside their RR right of ways about a Gizillion miles of dark fiber for future communication transport. Not a bad idea by the grand railroad.

Back to financial stuff: the company pays a 2% dividend to add to your pockets and has a 5 year earnings growth rate of 16.45. 

The company, WITHOUT government assistance, invests millions of dollars into state transport infrastructures to maintain their critical rail routes providing much needed jobs and employment.


    So, how have the results been on your investment?  The UNP 12 month Total Return has been 27.51% and the 3 Year total return has been 88.65%. The stock chart looks great on this one.

So once again, you have a chance to be a Railroad baron, like Cornelius Vanderbilt, (or Warren Buffett, for that matter,) and pick up 20 - 25 shares at a time of UNP and average in your purchases and position over time . (You can even buy 10 shares at a time.)

Have a Grand Sunday. Maybe have some fun and take a train ride today!

Freewilly

"I am still finding value out there with the split stock of Abbott Laboratories (Symbol ABT) with its break off from ABBVIE"

Dow Jones Industrial Average 14,578.54 (UP)  Week ending 03-29-2013

Abbott Laboratories (Symbol ABT, $35.25) is one of the companies that came out of the company dividing itself into Abbott Labs and ABBVIE. Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It seems to have the primary focus on the businesses of Nutrition, similar to Mead Johnson Nutrition and DuPont, but much more diversified.  The pharmaceutical research and businesses went to ABBVIE.

Abbott Laboratories is projecting 2013 earnings of $2.02 per share and 2014 earnings of $2.22 for 2014. The company currently has a return on equity of 23.19% and a PEG ratio of 1.36, so it fits within my buying criteria.

To do the company justice,  you really need to read the ABBOTT Investor Roadshow Presentation at this link:                         Roadshow Presentation for the Abbott Labs

This $23 Billion dollar powerhouse has lots of headroom for growth, as you will see in their presentation.  The good news is that most people have not figured it out yet, so you can purchase it at a PE of 9. It looks like the cash dividend will be around $0.56 per share. (1.6% at $35.00 a share)

We haven't even talked about their Diagnostics business!   Better pickup some shares of ABT tomorrow before everyone else finds out how great a company they are going to become.  
   

   Freewilly