Sunday, May 18, 2008

Stocks for May 19, 2008

Here's the list for the week of 19 May.


SymbolTop RankedZacks PEG SuppDem VLIBD Stock checkup
RIMM11111A
ACI 1111A+
BUCY1 211A+
KEX112 1A+
NBL111 1A+
AAPL1 21 A+
ARO 111A+
AXYS 12 1A+
BRY 11 1A+
CSX1 1 1A+
FLS 11 1A+
FTI111 A+
JOYG 11 1A+
LNN 11 1A+
MA112 A+
MON 11 1A+
MOS1 1 1A+
PCLN 111A+
POT1 1 1A+
RIG 11 1A+
SFY111 A+
SWN 12 1A+
BIDU112 A
DE1 1 1A
DVN 11 1A
GFA111 A
GLW 12 1A
KWK1 1 1A
MANT 11 1A
MUR 11 1A
NETL1 21 A
WMB 12 1A-
XLNX 11 1A-


This week, I welcome these four stocks to the core list:

  • BIDU (brand new)
  • DE (last on 6 Mar 08)
  • KWK (last on two weeks ago; briefly dipped to 4)
  • MOS (last on 6 Mar 08)
Baidu.com (BIDU) Baidu.com provides Chinese language Internet search services. I wonder how searching on Chinese characters works? ISRG is off the core list.

Core list (with n of 10 weeks passing):

SymbolPassing weeks Earnings
RIG10Earn 6-Aug
RIMM10Earn 25-Jun
BUCY9Split 27-May
PCLN9
GLW9
MANT8
MON8
ESRX7
AXYS7
FLS7
KEX7Earn 23-Jul
MATK6
PRGO6
JOYG6Earn 29-May
LNN6
NFLX5
POT5
BIDU5
DE5Earn 13-Aug
KWK5
MOS5Earn 31-Jul


moving down this week
moving up this week
new this week

The Dow rose about 200 points this week, ending just shy of 13,000.

I am continuing to enjoy Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. The end of the book seems to have shorter essays, but I am struck by how patients can be trapped because of a stroke, or Tourette's syndrome, or by Parkinsons, and somehow be freed to be able to move or speak through music. (Sometimes just imagining music!) Philosophically speaking, the author has some speculation as to why humans developed music. An interesting question is a chicken-and-egg question: music or speech?

On the trading front, Friday was options expiration. I rolled over my CLB calls and was in the catbird seat: the stock went up, into the money, but the time decay allowed me to buy the calls back in at a lower price. (So I made money on the option and made money on the stock. PXP has had a good run up and I let it get called away. After all, I'm dating stocks, not marrying them.

Enjoy your trading this week.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Stocks for May 11, 2008

Here are the weekly stocks the passed three or more of my five filters. RIMM has passed all five, again.


SymbolTop RankedZacks PEG SuppDem VLIBD Stock checkup
RIMM11111A
ACI 1111A+
BUCY1 211A+
RIG111 1A+
KEX112 1A
AAPL1 21 A+
AXYS 11 1A+
BIDU112 A+
BRY 11 1A+
CSX1 1 1A+
FLS 11 1A+
JOYG 11 1A+
LNN 11 1A+
MA112 A+
MON 11 1A+
MOS1 1 1A+
PCLN 111A+
POT1 1 1A+
SWN 12 1A+
DE1 1 1A
DVN 11 1A
GFA111 A
MANT 11 1A
MATK 11 1A
GLW 12 1A-
IVGN 12 1A-
XLNX 11 1A-


This week, I welcome these two stocks to the core list:

  • JOYG
  • LNN
Joy Global (JOYG) makes mining equipment. It was on my core list some time ago. Lindsay Corporation (LNN) manufactures and sells automated agricultural irrigation systems that enhance or stabilize crops. KWK and LIFC are off the core list.

Core list (with n of 10 weeks passing):

SymbolPassing weeks Earnings
RIG10Earn 6-Aug
RIMM10Earn 25-Jun
BUCY9Split 27-May
PCLN9
GLW8
ESRX7
MANT7
MON7
FLS6
PRGO6
AXYS6
KEX6Earn 23-Jul
MATK6
ISRG5
NFLX5
POT5
JOYG5Earn 29-May
LNN5


moving down this week
moving up this week
new this week

The market had a sharp drop at the end of the week, but it looks like it's recovering a little bit on Monday.

I am reading Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. Part memoir, part research, Sacks describes the effect of music on the mind, from the point of view of a neuroscientist who loves music.

I put the Chris Mayer book down for a little bit because I think I'm reading too much about stocks to enjoy them.

Have fun trading this week.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Stocks for May 5, 2008

Here are the weekly stocks the passed three or more of my five filters. RIMM alone has passed all five.


SymbolTop RankedZacks PEG SuppDem VLIBD Stock checkup
RIMM11111A
RIG111 1A+
ACI 1111A
KEX112 1A
AXYS 11 1A+
BIDU112 A+
BUCY1 2 1A+
CSX1 1 1A+
FLS 11 1A+
FTI111 A+
GFA111 A+
JOYG 11 1A+
LNN 11 1A+
MA112 A+
MANT 11 1A+
MON 11 1A+
MOS1 1 1A+
PCLN 111A+
POT1 1 1A+
PRGO 11 1A+
AAPL1 21 A
DE1 1 1A
ESRX 11 1A
GLW 12 1A
IVGN 12 1A
DVN 11 1A-


This week, I welcome the following two stocks to the core list:

  • KEX
  • AXYS
Kirby Corporation (KEX) provides marine transportation and diesel engine services. Axsys Technologies (AXYS)designs and manufactures precision optical solutions for defense, aerospace, homeland security, and commercial applications.

FLIR and MUR are off the core list.

Core list (with n of 10 weeks passing):

SymbolPassing weeks Earnings
RIG10Earn 7-May
RIMM10Earn 25-Jun
BUCY9Split 27-May
PCLN9Earn 8-May
ESRX8
GLW8
ISRG6
FLS6Earn 28-Apr
MANT6
MON6
PRGO6Earn 6-May
LIFC5
KWK5Earn 7-May
MATK5
NFLX5
POT5
AXYS5
KEX5Earn 23-Jul

moving down this week
moving up this week
new this week

They promise the blessings of the Garden of Eden, but they plan to transform the world into a gigantic post office. Ludwig von Mises, describing Socialism. (He could just as easily be describing politicians today.)

I had lunch with Henry last week. It is wonderful to catch up with old friends.

I have been reviewing all of my trading from last year, now that the necessary evil of taxes is behind me. I haven't come to a lot of conclusions, but here are some observations.

  • I made more on individual plays (directional bets) than I did in following the advice of newsletters.
  • I made a lot of steady income from selling naked puts, having the stock put to me, and selling covered calls.
  • My biggest losses came from following newsletter recommendations while not imposing my own rules on top of them. The greatest damage came from:
    • Not taking a pre-defined loss (say 8% or 2 times the Average Trading Range (ATR)).
    • Not entering at a lower Bollinger Band.
    • Not waiting for the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) to bottom out and start ticking back up
I am not placing a the blame at the feet of newsletters, but uttering a mea culpa. I take responsibilty for my trades, but in addition, I take responsibility for applying my rules.

Have fun trading this week.