Dow Jones Industrial Average 12151.26 (Down, longest stretch since 2004)
Dryships Inc. (Symbol DRYS, $4.15) is looking good after a week where stocks just got drubbed over and over again. The stock is sitting here with a PE of 4. Dryships is a drybulk shipping and contract drilling company.
DryShips stock shot up Friday after it got the notice of some of the Goldman Sachs folks to give it a nod as an upgrade to "Buy"
The Goldman guys (gals) are looking at DryShips as a Oil drilling leasing company with both large oil drilling platforms for lease and also oil drilling ships. I started looking at the stock because of a mild uptick in the Baltic Dry Index in the last month. This could be a real bonus.
Urs Dur of Lazard Capital Markets, in a note back in Dec. 2010 described developments as a “bevy of positive news” from DryShips and agrees with other analysts who told TradeWinds on Friday that Dryships private placement was the first stage of an IPO for Ocean Rig (their drilling operations).
He said: “Given that much of the unresolved financing pressure has been alleviated on Ocean Rig (including the recent announcement of a $325m bridge loan and the recent completion of DryShips’ $350m ATM transaction), and that DryShips has significant built-in growth in a deepwater drilling sector that is firming, we feel that a public spin-off of Ocean Rig from DryShips in the new year is much more likely today.”
Dryships is projecting 2012 earnings of $0.97 cents per share. The company has a 5 year growth rate of 26+ % and Net profit margins of 35%. DryShips Inc , a Greek dry cargo transporter and oil driller, said its drilling unit won additional contract days for one of its rigs from Borders and Southern Petroleum, taking the total contract value to $126 million. Earlier this month, the company secured a 90-day contract for Leiv Eiriksson rig from British explorer and producer Borders and Southern Plc for drilling offshore the Falkland Islands. DryShips said Borders & Southern have declared two optional wells under the existing drilling contract for the harsh environment drilling rig Leiv Eiriksson, owned by its unit Ocean Rig UDW.
Ocean Rig, which has secured contracts for all of its initial newbuilding drillships, is expected to list its shares in the United States and in Oslo, DryShips is looking at a valuation for the majority-owned subsidiary at $25-$26 a share.
I would buy this stock for a trade here and take your profits when you have them. I would expect a 33% return on the trade.
So going forward I will be looking for quality stocks that have been beaten down over the last few weeks, that may be good additions to your portfolio. Onward and upward.
That's me at the Wyndmoor Memorial Day parade this year. I am standing next to a 1967 GTO that was the same year and gold color as my old car. There is nothing like cruising in a muscle car on a nice breezy day.
Have a good week and enjoy the summer
Freewilly
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
"Everytime I look at a Mid-Cap portfolio I notice that the stock of Acme Packet is listed in the middle of all of them. Who are these guys anyway"
Dow Jones Industrial Average 12,442 (UP) Week ending 05/27/2011
Whenever I hear about an ACME company, the old Looney Tunes -Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon comes into my mind. ACME had a catalog with rocket jets, gigantic elastic band catapults, a wide variety of forms of transportation and probably the most popular, a giant magnet to catch any bird that eats iron bird seed can be found in the catalog. Of course there are anvils, fake holes that a train can drive through and dehydrated boulders can all be found in the catalog as well. So whenever I see that word "ACME" it pops out at me. Meep , Meep! (roadrunner sound)
Acme Packet Inc. (Symbol APKT, $73.53) is "the leader in session delivery network solutions. They enable the delivery of interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—and data services across IP network borders."
"Acme Packet Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) provide critical control functions to allow mobile service providers to deliver trusted, first-class interactive communications across IP network borders. A broad range of 3G (CDMA and UMTS) and 4G (LTE and WiMAX) services and applications are supported ranging from basic VoIP to any IMS enabled service—voice, interactive video, video share, presence, instant messaging, IPTV, video on demand, RCS, IPX, and femtocell and WiFi-enabled fixed-mobile convergence."
So why is Acme Packet Inc. showing up in all these portfolios? Let's take a look at the numbers.
2011 earnings are going to come in at .89 cents per share and 2012 earnings of $1.27 per share. 5 year sales growth of 30.10% afford this stock a very PE of 82. The company has produced eye-popping Total returns with a one year return of 150.9 % and 3 year total returns of 716.1 %. No wonder it is showing up in all these portfolios.
Is this stock too expensive? With only 254 million in revenues I would say that this one has a long way to go.
I would look to buy it on any pullbacks along the way here.
It is a great company to single out for Memorial Day since they do everything here in the USA as you can see from the comment of their CEO Andy Ory to the left pictured. Bedford is out there by Lexington in Massachusetts, where the Revolutionary War began, and the Boston area, home of the Red Sox and Patriots storied sports teams.
Investors Business Daily stated the following: "Bedford, Mass.-based Acme Packet's third-quarter sales jumped 56%, with per-share profit soaring 122% from the year-earlier quarter. Acme's stock has rocketed 400% in 2010."
So enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend and parades in the US, and if you are elsewhere I hope you have a good Monday. Honor your soldiers who preserve your freedoms ...............................................
Oh, and keep an eye on that Roadrunner too!
Freewilly
Whenever I hear about an ACME company, the old Looney Tunes -Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon comes into my mind. ACME had a catalog with rocket jets, gigantic elastic band catapults, a wide variety of forms of transportation and probably the most popular, a giant magnet to catch any bird that eats iron bird seed can be found in the catalog. Of course there are anvils, fake holes that a train can drive through and dehydrated boulders can all be found in the catalog as well. So whenever I see that word "ACME" it pops out at me. Meep , Meep! (roadrunner sound)
Acme Packet Inc. (Symbol APKT, $73.53) is "the leader in session delivery network solutions. They enable the delivery of interactive communications—voice, video and multimedia sessions—and data services across IP network borders."
"Acme Packet Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) provide critical control functions to allow mobile service providers to deliver trusted, first-class interactive communications across IP network borders. A broad range of 3G (CDMA and UMTS) and 4G (LTE and WiMAX) services and applications are supported ranging from basic VoIP to any IMS enabled service—voice, interactive video, video share, presence, instant messaging, IPTV, video on demand, RCS, IPX, and femtocell and WiFi-enabled fixed-mobile convergence."
So why is Acme Packet Inc. showing up in all these portfolios? Let's take a look at the numbers.
2011 earnings are going to come in at .89 cents per share and 2012 earnings of $1.27 per share. 5 year sales growth of 30.10% afford this stock a very PE of 82. The company has produced eye-popping Total returns with a one year return of 150.9 % and 3 year total returns of 716.1 %. No wonder it is showing up in all these portfolios.
Is this stock too expensive? With only 254 million in revenues I would say that this one has a long way to go.
I would look to buy it on any pullbacks along the way here.
It is a great company to single out for Memorial Day since they do everything here in the USA as you can see from the comment of their CEO Andy Ory to the left pictured. Bedford is out there by Lexington in Massachusetts, where the Revolutionary War began, and the Boston area, home of the Red Sox and Patriots storied sports teams.
Investors Business Daily stated the following: "Bedford, Mass.-based Acme Packet's third-quarter sales jumped 56%, with per-share profit soaring 122% from the year-earlier quarter. Acme's stock has rocketed 400% in 2010."
So enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend and parades in the US, and if you are elsewhere I hope you have a good Monday. Honor your soldiers who preserve your freedoms ...............................................
Oh, and keep an eye on that Roadrunner too!
Freewilly
Thursday, May 26, 2011
"Even if all your stocks are crashing down like it's Judgement day on wall street, people are still going to need to eat and drink"
Dow Jones Industrial Average 12,381 (Down) May 23rd , 2011
Well I survived May 21st to live and talk another day. That was supposed to be Judgement day. I think God decides himself how and when we will make our exit from this earth.
Many sadly did perish in devastating F5 tornadoes and floods in the Central USA region. I tried to find out how many people on average die each day on earth and it looks like 150,000 per day. Maybe the "Rapture" is like a Rolling Stones concert and you have to wait in line each day until its your turn to get a ticket. So it is going on all the time, non-stop everyday. The good news is that 200,000 people are born each day so we are gaining a surplus of people, give or take a few plagues, epidemics and wars.
Well I survived May 21st to live and talk another day. That was supposed to be Judgement day. I think God decides himself how and when we will make our exit from this earth.
Many sadly did perish in devastating F5 tornadoes and floods in the Central USA region. I tried to find out how many people on average die each day on earth and it looks like 150,000 per day. Maybe the "Rapture" is like a Rolling Stones concert and you have to wait in line each day until its your turn to get a ticket. So it is going on all the time, non-stop everyday. The good news is that 200,000 people are born each day so we are gaining a surplus of people, give or take a few plagues, epidemics and wars. At any rate, these people all need to eat and drink, so you should be safe with the stock of
J.M. Smucker's ( Symbol SJM, $77.37) . Smuckers will preserve 2011 earnings per share of $4.77 and perk up 2012 earnings of $5.09 per share. The J. M. Smucker Company on Strawberry Lane in Orrville, OH. is engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of branded food products on a worldwide basis.

OH MY GOD! OMG! This is the longest blog to write in history. May 25th now. I have just been informed that Mark Haines, pioneering Anchor of the CNBC business show Squawk, has passed away today at the age of 65.
Mark Haines, who history will remember along with Sue Herera as the first anchors of what is now the formidable shows of CNBC "Squawk Box" and "Squawk on the Street ". They started out working on cardboard boxes and a couple desk. Mark told Sue not to sell her house in case this thing doesn't work out! Wow!
As a lifelong follower and worshipper of business television, I am crushed and devastated at the lost of Mark Haines. He was the Rock of CNBC. What Louis Rukeyser had began on Friday nights, Mark Haines brought to daytime TV, first thing, every morning and expanded infinitely . He cared about the individual investor highly, and he would scrutinize every guest that would cross his path for their benefit . Where would we be without the invention of CNBC television. Lost somewhere in the 1950's I guess.
Rolling Stones ticket. Enjoy the concert Mark. I salute you with a tip of the glass of Pinot Noir and a bag of Cheetos dipped in Ketchup, your favorite.
No way to segway here. Mark was on duty on the CNBC show reporting as the 9-11 day news broke on the World Trade Center attacks. He handled it, and I will handle his loss here. Mark would want the reporting to continue and the valued information to get out to individual investors.
Coca-Cola Co. (Symbol KO, $66.91) is the next stock I would take a look at. Coke just looks cheap to me here. 2011 earnings projected at $3.86 per share and 2012 projected earnings of $4.28. Just about 9% five year sales growth, 17.3 % five year earnings growth, and 31.7% net profit margins make this one dynamic stock. 41.50% Return on Equity an a 2.81% dividend yield will put some fizz in your portfolio.
Another food stock and piece of Americana like Coke, is the American icon Kellogg Co. (Symbol K, $56.78). Similar dividend yield as Coke at 2.88%, Kellogg will have 2011 earnings of $3.48 per share and 2012 earnings of $3.80 per share. This is a very conservative investment which will give you a 11-12 % return annually between the dividend and capital appreciation. (52.7% Return on Equity by the way.)
Cereal for breakfast, Mac and Cheese for lunch.
Kraft Foods Inc. Cl A (Symbol KFT, $34.62 ) with a 3.37% dividend and decent revenue growth of 7.37% annually is the next stock choice. Kraft posted staggering revenue numbers of $50 billion in sales. If they could get a little more of that to fall to the bottom line, things could get real interesting here. Kraft has a nice chart since February 2009 and should continue to rise. Good steady return on your equity. Need to cut a little debt.
Rest in Peace Mark.
Freewilly

OH MY GOD! OMG! This is the longest blog to write in history. May 25th now. I have just been informed that Mark Haines, pioneering Anchor of the CNBC business show Squawk, has passed away today at the age of 65.
Mark Haines, who history will remember along with Sue Herera as the first anchors of what is now the formidable shows of CNBC "Squawk Box" and "Squawk on the Street ". They started out working on cardboard boxes and a couple desk. Mark told Sue not to sell her house in case this thing doesn't work out! Wow!
As a lifelong follower and worshipper of business television, I am crushed and devastated at the lost of Mark Haines. He was the Rock of CNBC. What Louis Rukeyser had began on Friday nights, Mark Haines brought to daytime TV, first thing, every morning and expanded infinitely . He cared about the individual investor highly, and he would scrutinize every guest that would cross his path for their benefit . Where would we be without the invention of CNBC television. Lost somewhere in the 1950's I guess.
Rolling Stones ticket. Enjoy the concert Mark. I salute you with a tip of the glass of Pinot Noir and a bag of Cheetos dipped in Ketchup, your favorite.
No way to segway here. Mark was on duty on the CNBC show reporting as the 9-11 day news broke on the World Trade Center attacks. He handled it, and I will handle his loss here. Mark would want the reporting to continue and the valued information to get out to individual investors.Coca-Cola Co. (Symbol KO, $66.91) is the next stock I would take a look at. Coke just looks cheap to me here. 2011 earnings projected at $3.86 per share and 2012 projected earnings of $4.28. Just about 9% five year sales growth, 17.3 % five year earnings growth, and 31.7% net profit margins make this one dynamic stock. 41.50% Return on Equity an a 2.81% dividend yield will put some fizz in your portfolio.
Another food stock and piece of Americana like Coke, is the American icon Kellogg Co. (Symbol K, $56.78). Similar dividend yield as Coke at 2.88%, Kellogg will have 2011 earnings of $3.48 per share and 2012 earnings of $3.80 per share. This is a very conservative investment which will give you a 11-12 % return annually between the dividend and capital appreciation. (52.7% Return on Equity by the way.)
Cereal for breakfast, Mac and Cheese for lunch.
Kraft Foods Inc. Cl A (Symbol KFT, $34.62 ) with a 3.37% dividend and decent revenue growth of 7.37% annually is the next stock choice. Kraft posted staggering revenue numbers of $50 billion in sales. If they could get a little more of that to fall to the bottom line, things could get real interesting here. Kraft has a nice chart since February 2009 and should continue to rise. Good steady return on your equity. Need to cut a little debt.
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| Mark Haines - CNBC Icon - we will miss you |
Rest in Peace Mark.
Freewilly
Saturday, May 14, 2011
"DSW Inc. - Designer Shoe Warehouse - wouldn't Imelda Marcos like this store! So would Peter Lynch."
Dow Jones Industrial Average 12,596 (Down) Week ending 05-13-2011
I talk to my friend Paul in the morning about stocks. He mentioned that he always see people in this store buying stuff no matter what was going on with the economy or gas prices. DSW Inc. - Designer Shoe Warehouse (Symbol DSW, $45.00) is one of those stocks Peter Lynch would have looked around and put it in his portfolio at Fidelity Magellan. DSW is projecting 2012 earnings of $2.70 per share and 2013 earnings of $3.16 per share.
To some folks, SHOES, are a Religion. Imelda Marcos the prolific collector of shoes actually has a museum with mostly her shoes in it in the Philippines. Imelda showing them on the tour to the right here. She is Very proud.
On the show "Sex in the City" based in New York City poor Carrie Bradshaw is actually robbed of her most favorite shoes on one episode, her prize possession and most valuable commodity.
People seem to find money in their budget for shoes no matter what happens. DSW is the place they go. It has a Return on Equity of 20.70% and a 1 year gain of 55.8 % and a three year gain of 204.7%. DSW has 311 stores in 39 states and an E-Commerce site and has plenty of room for expansion. DSW employees 10,500 people in the USA.
Of course nothing is simple. "DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW), a leading branded footwear specialty retailer, and its largest shareholder, Retail Ventures, Inc. (NYSE: RVI), announced the two companies have signed a definitive merger agreement providing for RVI to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of DSW in a tax-free exchange of shares at an exchange ratio of 0.435 DSW shares per each RVI share."

"For accounting purposes, DSW will effectively retire the 27.4 million class B shares currently owned by RVI (approximately 62% of DSW's fully diluted shares outstanding). As a result of the merger, the separate corporate existence of RVI will cease and the surviving entity will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary of DSW. DSW estimates that it will have slightly fewer diluted shares outstanding as a result of this transaction."
So unless the world ends as predicted on May 21st, 2011 , I think you are good shape picking up some shares of DSW Inc. I think people will keep buying shoes and handbags.
So what is the most expensive pair of shoes?
What happens when Carrie Bradshaw circa 1995 meets the Grand Sultan of Land-'O-Money? This £140,000 shoe (around $228,452 US) encrusted with 30 carats worth of diamonds, made with solid gold, and a surprising lack of taste. "The aim of this was to create a unique form of jewellery which you can wear on your feet. It's a bit like if you found these on an archaeological dig in thousands of years time they would be regarded as a treasure—a treasure of the feet," said Christopher Michale Shellis, designer of said shoes.
Better dust off my docksiders, I think we are going dancing.
Have a good one,
Freewilly
I talk to my friend Paul in the morning about stocks. He mentioned that he always see people in this store buying stuff no matter what was going on with the economy or gas prices. DSW Inc. - Designer Shoe Warehouse (Symbol DSW, $45.00) is one of those stocks Peter Lynch would have looked around and put it in his portfolio at Fidelity Magellan. DSW is projecting 2012 earnings of $2.70 per share and 2013 earnings of $3.16 per share.

To some folks, SHOES, are a Religion. Imelda Marcos the prolific collector of shoes actually has a museum with mostly her shoes in it in the Philippines. Imelda showing them on the tour to the right here. She is Very proud.
On the show "Sex in the City" based in New York City poor Carrie Bradshaw is actually robbed of her most favorite shoes on one episode, her prize possession and most valuable commodity.
People seem to find money in their budget for shoes no matter what happens. DSW is the place they go. It has a Return on Equity of 20.70% and a 1 year gain of 55.8 % and a three year gain of 204.7%. DSW has 311 stores in 39 states and an E-Commerce site and has plenty of room for expansion. DSW employees 10,500 people in the USA.
Of course nothing is simple. "DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW), a leading branded footwear specialty retailer, and its largest shareholder, Retail Ventures, Inc. (NYSE: RVI), announced the two companies have signed a definitive merger agreement providing for RVI to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of DSW in a tax-free exchange of shares at an exchange ratio of 0.435 DSW shares per each RVI share."

"For accounting purposes, DSW will effectively retire the 27.4 million class B shares currently owned by RVI (approximately 62% of DSW's fully diluted shares outstanding). As a result of the merger, the separate corporate existence of RVI will cease and the surviving entity will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary of DSW. DSW estimates that it will have slightly fewer diluted shares outstanding as a result of this transaction."
So unless the world ends as predicted on May 21st, 2011 , I think you are good shape picking up some shares of DSW Inc. I think people will keep buying shoes and handbags.
So what is the most expensive pair of shoes?
What happens when Carrie Bradshaw circa 1995 meets the Grand Sultan of Land-'O-Money? This £140,000 shoe (around $228,452 US) encrusted with 30 carats worth of diamonds, made with solid gold, and a surprising lack of taste. "The aim of this was to create a unique form of jewellery which you can wear on your feet. It's a bit like if you found these on an archaeological dig in thousands of years time they would be regarded as a treasure—a treasure of the feet," said Christopher Michale Shellis, designer of said shoes.
Better dust off my docksiders, I think we are going dancing.
Have a good one,
Freewilly
Monday, May 9, 2011
"A layer of risk is removed from the market and a look at Semiconductor stocks where we have all been burned before"
Dow Jones Industrial Average 12638.74 (Down) Week Ending 05-06-2011
Sometimes you just to get a little bit lucky. The US Government and our President Barack Obama took a calculated high risk chance to capture the world's number one bad guy and drew Double P's. More like Double P's and a Run. If you are a Pinochle player you understand what this means and the feeling it emotes. Not only did they capture and kill Osama Bin Laden but took possession of computers and disk drives with a mountain of bad guy data and plans. Evidently Al Qaeda did not study American Film-Noir or history about justice and understand that we always catch the bad guy. Ask Al Capone, John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, Pablo Escobar and Manuel Noriega. That is how it always ends in real life and the movies.
With this development, a whole bunch of air was let out of the world risk balloon. It was suddenly "Serenity Now" time. With Bin Laden gone, a layer of terrorist command and control is removed from the world scene and at the minimum Al Qaeda is disrupted in the short term, although still in cell groups that can do damage autonomously. Commodities relaxed and dropped in price. Crude oil came all the way down to $97.00 a barrel. Maybe we can get back to looking at the clean fundamentals of business when evaluating stock values .
I decided to talk this week about Semiconductor stocks. If you have been around awhile trading you probably have gotten burned in the past like in late 2008 by some of these stocks and have shyed away from them as a group. But there is allot of buzz going on right now. Blackstone Group LP (Symbol BX) are offering an IPO of Freescale Semiconductor Inc of 43.5 to 50 Million shares at $22 to $24 dollars per share. Freescale Semiconductor Inc is also part owned by TPG Capital, Carlyle Group and Permira Advisers LLP privately. Freescale Semiconductor is making the chips for Alcatel-Lucent's new lightRadio cubes.
Also Nvidia (symbol NVDA, $19.82) is to acquire Icera, to add 3G/4G baseband to it's mobile processor line. So that puts them in good position along with Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Mediatek as having the ability to integrate 3G/4G baseband right on to their chips. Icera owns 550 patents.(Source RCR Wireless).
So what can you buy based on fundamentals? Nvidia (NVDA) as mentioned above is good. Altera Corp.(ALTR) and Xilinx Inc.(XLNX) look fine.
Triquint Semiconductor Inc. (TQNT), Skyworks Solutions (SKWS), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), and Atmel (ATML) all could find a place in your portfolio.
Don't forget about my small-cap favorite in this group, that I have mentioned a fw times before LTX-Credence Corporation (LTXC, $8.72). Still a good buy.
If you are looking for a dark horse in this semiconductor area, one pick might be to purchase Marvell Technology Group Ltd., (MRVL, $14.80). Marvel has filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against Goldman Sachs and two account executives, alleging Goldman Sachs manipulated the 2008 financial crisis to defraud the two Silicon Valley executives of more than $100 million. Certainly they haven't done a good job promoting the stock.

![]() |
| Double Pinochle |
![]() |
| Aces around |
I decided to talk this week about Semiconductor stocks. If you have been around awhile trading you probably have gotten burned in the past like in late 2008 by some of these stocks and have shyed away from them as a group. But there is allot of buzz going on right now. Blackstone Group LP (Symbol BX) are offering an IPO of Freescale Semiconductor Inc of 43.5 to 50 Million shares at $22 to $24 dollars per share. Freescale Semiconductor Inc is also part owned by TPG Capital, Carlyle Group and Permira Advisers LLP privately. Freescale Semiconductor is making the chips for Alcatel-Lucent's new lightRadio cubes.
Also Nvidia (symbol NVDA, $19.82) is to acquire Icera, to add 3G/4G baseband to it's mobile processor line. So that puts them in good position along with Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Mediatek as having the ability to integrate 3G/4G baseband right on to their chips. Icera owns 550 patents.(Source RCR Wireless).
So what can you buy based on fundamentals? Nvidia (NVDA) as mentioned above is good. Altera Corp.(ALTR) and Xilinx Inc.(XLNX) look fine.
Triquint Semiconductor Inc. (TQNT), Skyworks Solutions (SKWS), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), and Atmel (ATML) all could find a place in your portfolio.
Don't forget about my small-cap favorite in this group, that I have mentioned a fw times before LTX-Credence Corporation (LTXC, $8.72). Still a good buy.
If you are looking for a dark horse in this semiconductor area, one pick might be to purchase Marvell Technology Group Ltd., (MRVL, $14.80). Marvel has filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against Goldman Sachs and two account executives, alleging Goldman Sachs manipulated the 2008 financial crisis to defraud the two Silicon Valley executives of more than $100 million. Certainly they haven't done a good job promoting the stock.

So what are you going to buy tomorrow? (Probably some speculative commodity, gold or oil stock!) These Semiconductor stocks are probably a better idea, stick with one of them.
Freewilly
Sunday, May 1, 2011
"Here we go again. The calendar has flipped over from April to May. Do we "Sell in May and go away"? Or, stay on the Magical Mystery tour with this Bull market?"
Dow Jones Industrial Average 12,810.54 (UP) Week ending 04-29-2011
The Dow Jones Industrial Average in Oct 2008 was at a top of 13,930.01. It then precipitously dropped in 5 months to 6626.94 on March 2nd, 2009. If you had capitulated, thinking it was the end of the world, and turned all your long term stock and capital into cash at this point, you made a grave investment mistake. Because since then to now April 29th, 2011, the Dow Jones has recovered most of that to now being at 12,810.54. If you were new money coming in at this bottom you are up 93.31% in two years. If you are looking at the chart of the DJIA for the last decade it looks like a big"W". I will let you technicians figure out what that means on a Macro level. My inclination is that we have come this far and will eventually test the old highs which is some 1100 Dow points to the upside from here.

So what should you buy for growth once QE2 Quantatative Easing is all sorted out in June?

WILLIAMS PARTNERS (Symbol WPZ, $55.80) specialty chemical and gatherer, transporter, processor and treater of natural gas and fractionating and storing natural gas liquids.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (Symbol NDAQ, $27.12) - a global exchange group that delivers trading, exchange technology, securities listing, and public company services across six continents.
Human Genome Sciences Inc. (Symbol HGSI, $29.47) - a commercially focused biopharmaceutical company advancing toward the market with three products in late-stage clinical development.

SWISHER HYGIENE (Symbol SWSH, 8.77) - H. Wayne Huizenga run Hygiene and Sanitation Solutions Company. A green play and very agressive on the acqusition front. Huizenga has a great track record with other businesses.
What an eclectic mix of stocks to boost your porfolio long term growth, huh?
Out to the garden now to battle the weeds.
Freewilly
The Dow Jones Industrial Average in Oct 2008 was at a top of 13,930.01. It then precipitously dropped in 5 months to 6626.94 on March 2nd, 2009. If you had capitulated, thinking it was the end of the world, and turned all your long term stock and capital into cash at this point, you made a grave investment mistake. Because since then to now April 29th, 2011, the Dow Jones has recovered most of that to now being at 12,810.54. If you were new money coming in at this bottom you are up 93.31% in two years. If you are looking at the chart of the DJIA for the last decade it looks like a big"W". I will let you technicians figure out what that means on a Macro level. My inclination is that we have come this far and will eventually test the old highs which is some 1100 Dow points to the upside from here.

We should deter to The Wisdom of old Mr. Partridge in Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, who says it was never his thinking that made big money for him but his sitting tight in a bull market that had been successful. "Have the courage to stick to your convictions until you think the bull market is over". "The big money was made not in the individual fluctuations but in the big market movements".
So do you sell in May and go away? I think you should do both. In your front end/taxable accounts I think you raise some cash and take some equities off the table as your companies announce earnings. I would especially dump companies with weak balance sheets. Go to 30-35% cash. In your long term accounts, like 401K's and IRA's where you may have money going in all the time, you should stay the course and keep buying equities.
So what should you buy for growth once QE2 Quantatative Easing is all sorted out in June?

WILLIAMS PARTNERS (Symbol WPZ, $55.80) specialty chemical and gatherer, transporter, processor and treater of natural gas and fractionating and storing natural gas liquids.
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (Symbol NDAQ, $27.12) - a global exchange group that delivers trading, exchange technology, securities listing, and public company services across six continents.
Human Genome Sciences Inc. (Symbol HGSI, $29.47) - a commercially focused biopharmaceutical company advancing toward the market with three products in late-stage clinical development.

SWISHER HYGIENE (Symbol SWSH, 8.77) - H. Wayne Huizenga run Hygiene and Sanitation Solutions Company. A green play and very agressive on the acqusition front. Huizenga has a great track record with other businesses.
What an eclectic mix of stocks to boost your porfolio long term growth, huh?
Out to the garden now to battle the weeds.
Freewilly
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
"With the Royal Wedding coming this week, will this spur a new fashion age with sales of Fancy hats and Revlon makeup?"
Dow Jones Industrial Average 12,595.37 (UP) 04-26-2011 Tuesday
Nothing like a Royal Wedding to launch a new wave of fashion and makeup trends, especially since the new princess already is known for her fashionable hats. It also doesn't hurt that she is the loveliest lady to arrive at Buckingham Palace since it was graced by William's mother, Lady Diana. (I wish Diana were here to see it, but I know she is here in spirit and will certainly be present in everyone's mind).

One company that will certainly benefit from this new and exciting trend will be the well known brand and franchise of Revlon Inc. (Symbol REV, $16.20).
I do not think that Revlon's stock has really priced in the value of their worldwide reknown leading brand. I could see their own possible marriage to an Avon or an Estee Lauder Cosmetics company.
Revlon, Inc. through its subsidiary, manufactures, markets and sells an array of cosmetics, women's hair color, beauty tools, fragrances, skincare, anti-perspirants/deodorants and personal care products. They live at the high fashion address of 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017.
Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name. Starting with a single product — a new type of nail enamel — the three founders pooled their resources and developed a unique manufacturing process. Using pigments instead of dyes, Revlon developed a variety of new shades of opaque nail enamel. The company has had a wild history including Michael Milliken junk bonds at one point being involved in a buyout.
It has not been a bed of roses for Revlon, with the stock dropping to as low as $2.37 back on March 10th, 2009. In April 2006 , the stock was at $34.40 per share. Talk about Beta. This is not my traditional stock pick based on the fundamentals because the numbers are just too crazy. The company has $25.26 in revenues for every share of the company and the company operates at 70.51% Gross margins, outstanding. The flip side is, the company has a negative book value and $22.17 a share in long-term debt. Such is the world of high fashion, not for the faint of heart.
Revlon's stock has a 3 year total return on the stock of 69.3%.
Earnings for 2011 look like $1.33 and for 2012, $1.43 per share, so they are making money. It looks to me like there is a trade here, with a target price of $23-$24. Revlon reports earnings this week on Thursday, April 28th with a slew of other companies. I think beauty products will benefit from having a whole world market to expand in to. Most cultures embrace a whole range of beauty products.
Revlon also sells to the growing market for hair colors for covering that gray, and also even sell wigs!
Lot's of celebrities with Revlon's advertising including spokeswoman Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba and others.
So get on the Revlon Trolley, (pictured below Hong Kong tram) and take a ride to a nice capital gain. Happy earnings report week.
Freewilly
![]() |
| Royal princess Kate Middleton |
One company that will certainly benefit from this new and exciting trend will be the well known brand and franchise of Revlon Inc. (Symbol REV, $16.20).
I do not think that Revlon's stock has really priced in the value of their worldwide reknown leading brand. I could see their own possible marriage to an Avon or an Estee Lauder Cosmetics company.
Revlon, Inc. through its subsidiary, manufactures, markets and sells an array of cosmetics, women's hair color, beauty tools, fragrances, skincare, anti-perspirants/deodorants and personal care products. They live at the high fashion address of 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017.
Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name. Starting with a single product — a new type of nail enamel — the three founders pooled their resources and developed a unique manufacturing process. Using pigments instead of dyes, Revlon developed a variety of new shades of opaque nail enamel. The company has had a wild history including Michael Milliken junk bonds at one point being involved in a buyout.
It has not been a bed of roses for Revlon, with the stock dropping to as low as $2.37 back on March 10th, 2009. In April 2006 , the stock was at $34.40 per share. Talk about Beta. This is not my traditional stock pick based on the fundamentals because the numbers are just too crazy. The company has $25.26 in revenues for every share of the company and the company operates at 70.51% Gross margins, outstanding. The flip side is, the company has a negative book value and $22.17 a share in long-term debt. Such is the world of high fashion, not for the faint of heart.
Revlon's stock has a 3 year total return on the stock of 69.3%.
Earnings for 2011 look like $1.33 and for 2012, $1.43 per share, so they are making money. It looks to me like there is a trade here, with a target price of $23-$24. Revlon reports earnings this week on Thursday, April 28th with a slew of other companies. I think beauty products will benefit from having a whole world market to expand in to. Most cultures embrace a whole range of beauty products.
Revlon also sells to the growing market for hair colors for covering that gray, and also even sell wigs!
![]() |
| Jessica Biel |
So get on the Revlon Trolley, (pictured below Hong Kong tram) and take a ride to a nice capital gain. Happy earnings report week.
Freewilly
Saturday, April 16, 2011
"A sudden silence in the financial community with the tragic loss of the very young and eloquent Joseph Battipaglia"
Dow Jones Industrial Average (Down) 12341.83
I was stunned. It was Thursday night, April 14th, and I was watching the Larry Kudlow show on CNBC like I do every night and Larry made the somber announcement that Joe Battipaglia, one of the steady and level headed voices on wall street had passed away today. I sat frozen on the couch in disbelief. I felt a blow to the stomach like I had lost a member of my family.
Joe Battipaglia, 55 years old, and two years younger than me, who was a star guest analyst on CNBC and Fox continuously and leader in the financial industry for decades was gone. I will defer to Neil Cavuto of Fox Business News for a personal remembrance:
Remembering-Joe-Battipaglia . Joe grew up in the New York City borough of Queens, the only child of a city sanitation worker and the first in his family to go to college, according to CNBC.com. My sincere condolences to his family and especially his children. My father died when I was five, so I know what it is like to experience that grief as a young child. Joe would want us to continue to talk about the thing he loved, business and stocks, so that is what I am going to do.
LTX-CREDENCE, (Symbol LTXC, $8.57) is a stock that I mentioned last year and own personally.
Verigy was supposed to purchase LTX Credence but then came along Advantest and they bought out Verigy. The cancellation of the deal will result in LTXC receiving 15 Million dollars that will go right to the bottom line. LTXC already has a low price earnings ratio of 7.4. The company is growing at 16% and is expecting to have 2011 earnings of $1.08 and $1.32 in 2012. Joe Battipaglia's firm Stifel Nicolaus had reiterated a buy recommendation on this stock on 12/10/2010 to a $10.00 price. The company has a return on equity of 24.30% with a PE heading towards 6.49 with a 15 million dollar kicker. I wouldn't be surprised if Advantest went after them also as an acquisition target. (I think they will want to get their 15 Mil back.)
There are lot's of bargains out in the NASDAQ stocks right now.
Ebix Inc. (Symbol EBIX, $22.54) the Atlanta GA. insurance and health care "cloud" CRM and application software company was taken down 25% in price the other week by an anonymous blog of all things. (Probably a disgruntled competitor). The company has a 5 year sales growth rate of 43.68% mostly due to acquisition and a 5 year earnings growth rate of 61.75%. These are the facts. Ebix runs with net profit margins of 44.60%. They have a one year total return of
38.5% and a 3 year total return of 139.0%. These are also facts, indisputable. The company plans on buying back 45 million shares. I would prefer that they continue to use their money instead to acquire other companies, but no harm here. All the major ETF holders in the stock have nice gains on their investment.
I will leave you with 2 links with Joe Battipaglia from April 2011 from the Larry Kudlow CNBC show.
We will miss you Joe.
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000014418
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000015715
Live your life to the fullest everyday and remember Joe in your prayers.
Freewilly
![]() |
| Joe Battipaglia 1955-2011 |
I was stunned. It was Thursday night, April 14th, and I was watching the Larry Kudlow show on CNBC like I do every night and Larry made the somber announcement that Joe Battipaglia, one of the steady and level headed voices on wall street had passed away today. I sat frozen on the couch in disbelief. I felt a blow to the stomach like I had lost a member of my family.
Joe Battipaglia, 55 years old, and two years younger than me, who was a star guest analyst on CNBC and Fox continuously and leader in the financial industry for decades was gone. I will defer to Neil Cavuto of Fox Business News for a personal remembrance:
Remembering-Joe-Battipaglia . Joe grew up in the New York City borough of Queens, the only child of a city sanitation worker and the first in his family to go to college, according to CNBC.com. My sincere condolences to his family and especially his children. My father died when I was five, so I know what it is like to experience that grief as a young child. Joe would want us to continue to talk about the thing he loved, business and stocks, so that is what I am going to do. LTX-CREDENCE, (Symbol LTXC, $8.57) is a stock that I mentioned last year and own personally.
Verigy was supposed to purchase LTX Credence but then came along Advantest and they bought out Verigy. The cancellation of the deal will result in LTXC receiving 15 Million dollars that will go right to the bottom line. LTXC already has a low price earnings ratio of 7.4. The company is growing at 16% and is expecting to have 2011 earnings of $1.08 and $1.32 in 2012. Joe Battipaglia's firm Stifel Nicolaus had reiterated a buy recommendation on this stock on 12/10/2010 to a $10.00 price. The company has a return on equity of 24.30% with a PE heading towards 6.49 with a 15 million dollar kicker. I wouldn't be surprised if Advantest went after them also as an acquisition target. (I think they will want to get their 15 Mil back.)
There are lot's of bargains out in the NASDAQ stocks right now.
Ebix Inc. (Symbol EBIX, $22.54) the Atlanta GA. insurance and health care "cloud" CRM and application software company was taken down 25% in price the other week by an anonymous blog of all things. (Probably a disgruntled competitor). The company has a 5 year sales growth rate of 43.68% mostly due to acquisition and a 5 year earnings growth rate of 61.75%. These are the facts. Ebix runs with net profit margins of 44.60%. They have a one year total return of
38.5% and a 3 year total return of 139.0%. These are also facts, indisputable. The company plans on buying back 45 million shares. I would prefer that they continue to use their money instead to acquire other companies, but no harm here. All the major ETF holders in the stock have nice gains on their investment.
I will leave you with 2 links with Joe Battipaglia from April 2011 from the Larry Kudlow CNBC show.
We will miss you Joe.
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000014418
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000015715
Live your life to the fullest everyday and remember Joe in your prayers.
Freewilly
Sunday, April 10, 2011
"A late Easter and a rise in Cotton prices has led to some bargains in Retail Apparel stocks"
Dow Jones Industrial Avg. 12,380 (UP) Week ending 04-08-2011
We have all heard about the meteoric rise in the price of Cotton. Demand is steady and in high volumes to China, India and Pakistan.
What the newsmen have not told you is that demand for cotton has actually dropped by 7 million bales since 2006. This is similar to another commodity, Oil , where speculation has driven the price higher, while worldwide demand is leveling off.
As we have all seen in the housing market, speculation or what Alan Greenspan called "Irrational exuberance," eventually comes to an end and prices return down toward the "mathematical mean" price. When this happens with cotton, it will be a windfall to some well run apparel retailers. Easter being late in April this year is also going to create soft sales numbers for apparel retailers for their Q1 2011 number comparisons to Q1 2010 figures. Q2 numbers on the other hand, should be excellent comparisons. Here are a few names that should benefit from this phenomena. I would buy them now and hold into the Christmas holiday.
Aeropostale Inc. (Symbol ARO, $25.62) even without cotton prices going down currently has a Return on Equity of 49.2%. ARO also has a 5 year sales growth of 15.31% and 5 year earnings growth of 31.85%. Sometimes you need to shop in the off season to get investment bargains. Don't forget that this stock's share price is up 91.51% over the last 5 years.

Limited Brands Inc. (Symbol LTD, $37.17) is projecting 2012 earnings of $2.31 and 2013 earnings of $2.64 per share. LTD has Return on Equity of 42.5% and offers a too reasonable dividend of 2.15%. This stock has a three year total return of 132%. March sales have been surprisingly strong against lowered expectations with a backdrop of unusually cold weather, bubbling gasoline prices and the shift of Easter into April.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (Symbol URBN, $30.91) is a company to like for a lot of reasons. 2012 earnings are projected at $1.74 per share and for 2013 looking like $2.08 a share. Urban has a great balance sheet with a Current ratio of 3.81 to 1 and has no long term debt.
This company with a 5 year sales growth rate of 16.15% is a real bargain at this "off the rack" price. These three are all quality investments; a piece of the puzzle.
These are 8 month investments, so don't worry if they bounce up and down in price between now and then.
Just pick one out and go with it.
Freewilly
We have all heard about the meteoric rise in the price of Cotton. Demand is steady and in high volumes to China, India and Pakistan.
What the newsmen have not told you is that demand for cotton has actually dropped by 7 million bales since 2006. This is similar to another commodity, Oil , where speculation has driven the price higher, while worldwide demand is leveling off.
As we have all seen in the housing market, speculation or what Alan Greenspan called "Irrational exuberance," eventually comes to an end and prices return down toward the "mathematical mean" price. When this happens with cotton, it will be a windfall to some well run apparel retailers. Easter being late in April this year is also going to create soft sales numbers for apparel retailers for their Q1 2011 number comparisons to Q1 2010 figures. Q2 numbers on the other hand, should be excellent comparisons. Here are a few names that should benefit from this phenomena. I would buy them now and hold into the Christmas holiday.
Aeropostale Inc. (Symbol ARO, $25.62) even without cotton prices going down currently has a Return on Equity of 49.2%. ARO also has a 5 year sales growth of 15.31% and 5 year earnings growth of 31.85%. Sometimes you need to shop in the off season to get investment bargains. Don't forget that this stock's share price is up 91.51% over the last 5 years.
Limited Brands Inc. (Symbol LTD, $37.17) is projecting 2012 earnings of $2.31 and 2013 earnings of $2.64 per share. LTD has Return on Equity of 42.5% and offers a too reasonable dividend of 2.15%. This stock has a three year total return of 132%. March sales have been surprisingly strong against lowered expectations with a backdrop of unusually cold weather, bubbling gasoline prices and the shift of Easter into April.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (Symbol URBN, $30.91) is a company to like for a lot of reasons. 2012 earnings are projected at $1.74 per share and for 2013 looking like $2.08 a share. Urban has a great balance sheet with a Current ratio of 3.81 to 1 and has no long term debt.
This company with a 5 year sales growth rate of 16.15% is a real bargain at this "off the rack" price. These three are all quality investments; a piece of the puzzle.
These are 8 month investments, so don't worry if they bounce up and down in price between now and then.
Just pick one out and go with it.
Freewilly
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