Taking Stock

So I was cruising around the Internet and came across some articles which seemed related to my watch lists.

Some favor my picks, some not so much…

First there was this article which mentioned CNinsure Inc. (CISG) as a strong buy in ZACKS aggressive growth category.
I have gone against my usual theory and held this stock for over a month; and now that it has gotten some “buy” publicity, I am tempted to hold on to it.

But not so much as to keep all of my position in it.

There are two or three from my watch lists which I have been interested in.

NTES recently bought World of Warcraft and is trying to push into the huge Chinese online and gaming market. Unfortunately, China is pushing back. But there are other markets and the rest of the world to sell to so even though NTES has taken even a bit more of a hit from this potentially bad news, I believe it will work out and allow the stock to recover even more.

China Natural Gas (CHNG) is well positioned within the country to take advantage of growing demand and good pricing. Jim Jubak, from MSN Money, had this article which mentioned the Natural Gas industry as a good potential buy. His take was a bit different than mine, but still caught my attention in that I have a Natural Gas company on my lists.

Graham Corporation (GHM) is a diverse well run company which is well suited to take advantage of various sectors of the economy as they rebound; including the energy fields. They have had a string of decent quarterly reports and have enjoyed slow but steady stock growth over the past year.

Last but not least is this article which lists some interesting stock choices for research AND their list of top 50 stocks for the month of November. Now, I have not done this for each and every month but the one or two times I have tracked them against my watch lists, I have done better.
One of the interesting things I find with this top 50 list is that their screens try to anticipate sectors which will do better as well as well positioned stocks for each of those sectors. Each month this list can, and often does, change due to market conditions. It is interesting to see the many Oil and Natural Gas companies listed. Apparently their screens seem to think these sectors will do well.

It will be interesting to see how well I and they do this time around.

Be Good Do Well Have Fun – Oh Snap !

Actually I should say snap your fingers twice…

and I will explain later… 🙂

But for now I will do a quick recap of the week as it relates to this blog and give my predictions for this weekend NFL action.

STOCKS: I kept my holdings of CISG which experienced nearly a 6% gain for the week vs. (the previous big winner) CTFO which had nearly a 13% loss.
And so far my starting lineup is beating my bench 8% vs 3% for the month.

FANTASY: I can’t seem to get out of my 1 for 3 pattern. Trouble is each week it seems to be a different 1 team winning. On the good side I am still in the running in 2 of the 3 of my leagues. (See left sidelines)
And no, nobody wants to trade for Campbell. Gee I can’t imagine why. So, in my search for a RB, I picked up Maroney who seems to have a good chance of getting more runs and a favorable match up (at least for this week).

And now for the Trivia Question of the week: Who was Vic Mizzy?

This week Vic Mizzy passed away. It is not often that this world has a person impact a generation (or two) with great talent and instantly recognizable classic works of art.

Want a hint? Just snap your fingers twice.

If you are still lost, you probably are to young to remember so click here.

There was a good write up here.

Not only did he write the original Addams Family Theme Song, he sang the original, directed the opening sequence with the original cast members and was smart enough to hold on to the creative rights to the song.

Rest in Peace Vic.

Oh and here are my predictions for this week.

CHICAGO BEARS
GREEN BAY PACKERS
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
NEW YORK JETS
BUFFALO BILLS
ATLANTA FALCONS
NEW ORLEAN SAINTS
NEW YORK GIANTS
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

I just realized I picked every visiting team except the Cardinals to win.
Hmmmmm …

So, in parting I will leave you with sound words of advice that I give my kids every day.

Be Good. Do Well. Have Fun.

Money, Cows, and Cars

So this past week has been kind of crazy.

It started with would turn out to be a weird theme and this picture,

which my nephew called the worlds best squirt gun.

Then this post on cow tipping.

Then an ad on the back of a car for this company.

And speaking of Cars… Remember my son and the guardrail?

Well, it seems there was a lot more damage than initially thought, and the cost of repairs was almost equal to the value of the car.

Which = TOTAL LOSS.

So now we have a check from the insurance company to deposit, one less car (for the moment), and yet to be determined higher insurance costs…

Which brings about the third part of this post; Money.

At least the stock market had a good week for gains.

DOW was up 4%
S&P was up 4.5%
NASDAQ was up 4.5%

My current holding left over from last month CISG was up 8.75% for the week.

And my Starting Lineup Watch list was up 6.31% for the week with the top player CTFO up a whopping 32.74%! I had been thinking of selling CISG for buying CTFO but did not. Oh Well, I can’t complain. 8% in one week is still really good and overall I am sitting at about 20% gain with this stock since last month.

You can always check on any of my starting lineup stocks with the yahoo finance badge I have posted on the right sideline.

I’ll have to take a closer look at my stocks to see if it makes sense to stay with CISG or go with one of my current Watch list stocks.

So I’ll leave you with this thought which was all brought about by a conversation with my Son’s Girlfriends Roommate from South Korea.

Seems that this is her first time in the US and goes out to see anything and everything ever chance she gets and take lots of pictures…

Including Cows!

Of course we all love cows and think they are just simply the greatest animals to ever walk the earth.

Why….

Because they are always Out-Standing In Their Field!

September Watch List – Results

OK, So not so bad this month.

Both my starting lineup and bench finished on the plus side.

And

Once again, my Bench topped my Starting lineup.

I did OK with my pick of CISG, I just wish I had picked it at the very beginning instead of waiting. OH well, still on the plus side for the month, so I can not complain…

September Watch List

OK, so I am getting this published just under the wire.

This month I am trying something a bit new.

I am still keeping my starting line ups and bench lists but now I have been able to incorporate pseudo rankings into some of my screens and have decided to use them as a basis for determining my watch lists. Basically the rankings are the ones which either best match the key criteria of each of my screens or have performed the best based on my filters. The theory being that the top ranked ones have the best chance of matching those goals.

So this is the first month of my experimenting with this slight twist to my system.

Oh, and I can’t tell you how many times my limit orders have come back to haunt me over the past six months. Usually, it is in the form of my stop loss of about 10% – 12%; only to watch the stock bounce back and recover quite nicely.

This last time, however, it was my 10% limit on price increase that bit me. AKA SVA popping to stratospheric heights.

I may be reviewing those in the near future as well, as those seem to be cutting into my overall return record.