Buying into the Digital Photo Frame Craze

One of my portfolio's has been doing incredible. I moved everything out of Apple +134% in one year. I diverted some of my funds to Netsuite (ticker symbol: N) - a company that the ex-head of Oracle started to compete with Salesforce.com and half into DPDW ( a penny stock with the ticker symbol DPDW or DPDW.OB ). I bought into DPDW at .74 and its 1.01 now!

I heard a rumor abour at 39 million dollar deal Netsuite may be getting - this could send the stock through the roof. Don't ask me how I heard it. I am highly recommend this stock with an exit point at $60 a share.

The Deep Water Dance Article by Motley Fool - MUST READ

http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2007/10/08/the-deepwater-dance-marathon.aspx

Malls Are Empty

Did some last minute shopping on this shortened trading day. The malls were empty. The high end stores sales people looked desperate. I wanted to give my money to them instead of the man ringing bell with the salvation army cup.

With that being said I think shorting retailers is a no-brainer when the man rings the bell on Wednesday ( I think trading resumes then). I also think that buying anybody associated with Digital Picture Frames or buying Garmin stock is win.

I will see what I can find over this holiday weekend. Oh yea PBR is gaining large and spending the money wisely. Just read some of the news on PBR and let me know if you think this company will break $200 in 2009.

Merry Christmas

ARTW - Shorting a stock that has +300% gains

I have been replenishing my portfolio with a short position in ARTW. I have seen this stock give back over 100% gains in the last week. I have made a substantial profit from betting against this company. I see it falling to the low 20's.

Investing In Doom and Gloom - The Upcoming Recession

The talk of Recession has been mentioned many times on the financial talk shows and whispered lots round wall street. Some analyst even have even went out on a limb and said that there would be a 50% chance of a recession.

Well let me tell you, with some of the recent news I am CONFIDENT that the bears will run the table and that there is more than a 90% chance of recession in the upcoming year. I think that lots of people in Washington and the old timers on Wall Street know this and are probably investing for it.

Lets think about the recent factors

1) Wheat shoots over $10 a bushel based on recent news from the UN that global warming + drought + population explosions + natural disasters + corn being used as gas = ONGOING STRAIN ON AN ALREADY LOW FOOD SUPPLY

2) RETAIL FIGURES WORST IN 6 YEARS. Sales in stores are scaring retailers. Women's clothing is not in the top five gifts for the first time ever.

3) HOUSING MARKET NOT FIXED YET. Their are plenty of sub prime mortgages that will be coming to term next year. This will affect financials and housing.

Its time to invest for with a recession. I will be analyzing my portfolio to make sure and take advantage of this. What immediately comes to mind is durable goods, discount retailers, and commodities.

Loosing My Religion

Okay heres the long and short of what has happened over last week.

I jumped out of GOOG and PBR with profits of 5.5% and 9.5% respectively. I jumped into ARTW a big mistake, thinking that this stock was going to go higher than the 400% it had traveled. I lost big time (16.25%). Enough to send me into a state of deep anti-blog depression.

I wanted to take time and analyze the state of paralysis that overtook me as I started to watch double digits percentage losses. I wanted to take a moment and think about the big mistake that most investors make when they start seeing a decision they make go south - hoping they will make back their profits. This only works on companies that have a sound foundation and Art Way Manufacturing does not. They make farm machinery. Farmers are strapped for cash! This stock was more than likely overinflated and I thought I could ride this wave but when the floor fell out from under me, all I could do is sit there and watch my hard earned dollars evaporate into the same diesel smoke Art Way Manufacturing machinery emits! I have learned my lesson and now I am ready to get back on that horse.

I finally sold the ARTW stock and immediately reversed my position. I took whatever money I had left and sold ARTW short. I held my breath and on Friday it dropped. Today it looks like it will drop 10%. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

For the beginning investor who is new to the idea of making money when a stock price falls - its called shorting a stock. Whenever this stock drops too, I make money. Its like betting the stock is going to fall and is a handy investment tool for the bad news scenarios. Usually brokerages won't charge you anything to sell a stock short. It is usually an option when you go to trade a particular stock. You might see buy, sell, sell short, or buy to cover. Buy and sell are obvious. Sell short is what I did to ARTW. When I make back the 16.5% I lost, I will buy to cover and hopefully recoup my loses late last week.

Oh and in the time it took me to write this I have purchased a small amount of Etrade (ETFC). I couldn't resist and I think it will be a good long term play.

Scottrade back online 10:13 - Could it be Etrade (ETFC)

Can someone please tell me how many millions Scottrade just lost? I would have to start investigating E-trade. I know this stock has been pretty beat up and I know they have a huge debt (billions) that has made this stock trade in the penny stock category but after seeing Scottrade blow up for an hour, I have to think that there might be a slight migration over to E-trade...

Maybe the hack is E-trade (ETFC) ? It wouldn't be the first time a company tried some corporate espionage. Wouldn't that be funny if Scottrade investigated the hack attempt and found out it was Etrade ?

Just wondering and you can't sue people for wondering!

p.s. My buddy from Florida who just visited with me highly recommened E-trade. I was going to label it a good stock pick before this happened after some preliminary research .

Confirmed - Scottrade's website is offline

This is an interesting turn of events. It looks like if you try and log into your account you get an error page. This is being broadcasted on this blog first! at 9:41 AM on the 17th of December.

This cold be a hack attempt or just a site outage. This would not be the first time Scottrade.com has has sub come to a hack attempt. They notified customers last year about an attack that left clients account's that were linked to scottrade in jeopardy. I may have to remove them from our recommend lists.

We have other discount online brokerages recommended on our links list at the bottom of this site.


This is what it looks like when you try to access you account

When Scottrade Doesn't Work

Its been a while, sorry for the hiatus. I just can't believe scottrade.com 's website is not working. This has to be historical. When you try to log into scottrade you get a 404 page. I have to call them. More posts soon.

EP (El Paso Corp) Going It With Texas

I just entered EP, El Paso Corp, big. I thought I could get better gains in the short term with this company. They specialize in natural gas and own a major pipeline. Compared to its peers I think its in tune to make a short term 10% gain. I know about this company through PBR.

Out of GOOG and PBR

Well I pulled the trigger. Don't really know why, just did. I feel like having these short term interest on the table while I've seen such a huge run off is being greedy. I am taking my profits and running. I will post them tomorrow.

Incredible Gains - Not moving out of Google just yet

I am pleased with the short positions I took have provide me with a substantial boost. I am probably not going to make any moves for a little while. There are many juicy options on the table but I am unable to scoop them up because the profits I am making from Google and Petrobras are to good to be true. I will move out of these once they stop their ascent.

National Global Financial Services

Click the images to get a bigger picture but I mentioned in an earlier post that if you wanted to jump into the market now that financials where attractive. Let me mention a fund that I have been in and thats been performing well for me - National Global Financial Services. It will give you good exposer to the financial sector without having to do a ton of research. I have included its chart and a snapshot of its holdings.

Great Day Yesterday - Today Looks Good Too

6% gain in my portfolio yesterday. Love days like that! Google, PBR, and JRJC took my portfolio higher. I think there were only two stocks that were down and they were only down a fraction of a percentage point. Anyways great day.

Today it looks like George Bush and congress will move the market higher with their efforts to help out the sub prime mortgage problem and then we have the fed speaking - folks it looks like a smooth couple of days of gains.

If your not in the market you may want to wait this bull run out, you missed the lows. If you have to jump in look at the beat up financial markets - I have one in my portfolio by the name of The Blackstone Group (BX). Its down 25% and can't go much lower.

Who is Willbros Group (wg)

Its been in our portfolio for a while and it has produced +95% gain this year. Heres the company bio:

Willbros Group, Inc. (Willbros) is an independent international contractor serving the oil, gas and power industries and government entities worldwide. Willbros operates its business in two segments: the United States and Canada (United States & Canada) and all other countries outside of the United States and Canada (International). It provides engineering; construction; engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and specialty services to industry and governmental entities worldwide, specializing in pipelines and associated facilities for onshore, coastal and offshore locations. The Company is also involved in asset development, ownership and operations as an extension of its portfolio of industry services. In June 2006, the Company announced its decision to sell its assets and operations in Nigeria, and on February 7, 2007, it sold its Nigeria operations through a share purchase agreement. In October 2006, it completed the sale of its interests in Venezuela.

Oil looks higher and Brazil getting hot!

Oil looks higher today. Opec decided not to increase output great for those of you in PBR, PBR-A, or any of our oil picks. The other good news is that Brazil is getting mentioned almost as much as the iPod this year. As far as growth markets go, many stock analyst are saying Brazil is the way to go. Let not forget the PBR is the STATE owned and operated oil company. Lets also not forget they found 5 billion barrels of oil. Now they have to dig for it and if they do it will be a record drill. You couldn't ask for a better story line - its a definite Hollywood ending that Wall Street will reward PBR for for.

Just a thought

Yes I know TTWO made 10% yesterday hope you guys jumped in. I am sure there will be some profit taking (maybe a drop in the price) but I do think that they are a good takeover target and maybe will command a price around $30.

I woke up this morning thinking about Google. I think they are playing a dangerous game (as far as stock holders go) with this 700mhz auction. Its going to be 13 + billion to get in. They said they are doing this to prove a point. I believe they have great intentions. BUT the stock price may take a short term dip because Wall Street doesn't reward companies who bet millions to prove a point. Some people may even think that this is reckless. I know its beach front property, I know they are doing it to ensure that the spectrum stay free and open but I can't shake that it is a little risky for the short term players in Google.

Stocks That Are At A Discount

The Blackstone Group (BX) is 25% off its price since the beginning of November. This one is set for a 20%-25% pop in the next three months or sooner.

China Financial Online (JRJC) is 17% off its price in the last 155-20 days this one is definitely at a discount.

PBR - Petro Brazilio under a $100 is a "wish I would have." They will be in the news soon. They have a record drill to do, reminiscent of the movie Armageddon (where they have to drill into the meteor). If they score (which they will) this stock will skyrocket. Get in now and hold it...

Big Jump Alert - TTWO - Take Two and Nintendo - NTDOY.PK

ALERT!!!!!!

TTWO a stock that has been on our list for a while and it will experience a huge jump today. Its ups 5% in the pre-market trading. With Activision being bought by the makers of World of Warcraft we are going to see a bump in the gaming sector today. The it item this year is obvously the Ninentedo (NTDOY.PK) Wii. I dove to Carribou this weekend and saw a line that wrapped around the Best Buy. This stock was mentioned on our blog a couple of weeks back.

Please readers use these tips! I wasn't joking about this tireless research stuff.

TTWO will be the next take over target and this price and $14 - $15 is price to be in this stock.

If your in GOOG your going to be in it until after 2008

Google is getting ready to spend 1/3 of its cash reserves on the 700 mhz airwaves. The street doesn't understand why. I think I have an idea. But if the street doesn't get it the price will reflect this. I think that GOOG may dip becuase the street thinks that spending one third of a companies cash reserve is a big gamble.

Just wanted to warn the short players on this stock.

Undervalued Stocks with good management

Lets talk about some undervalued stocks that are god buys. These companies have been beat up in the market and are due for a bounce and hefty 20% to 25% gain in the next week or two.

BX - THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP - Down 25% in the last week or so.

JRJC - CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO LTD - Down 33% in the last week or so.

If your looking for a good +25% in a week gain get them now at these lows, so I don't have to post a week later I told you so.

More Power To The Bull Market - Fed acting nervous, Good indication that he will cut the prime

It looks like my short positions in Google are paying off big time. No time like the present to jump into this stock. I am betting it will see $900 before the run levels out (if it ever does). I will be watching this stock closely but pre-market trading has it at $712 a share. Remember we jumped into this one at $681 - not bad.

I am sure NOV will continue its run with Citigroup upgrading it to buy.

Oil is down in pre-market trading. This could effect my oil holdings both long and short. If I see PBR falling I may take my profits off the table and look at one my lower cost stocks like DPDW.

Have to run.

NOV gets upgrade from Citigroup

Hey Folks,

Looks like the old intuition + lots of research = has paid off. Lets hope this is a rocket. Remember this is in my long position and I am heavy in this stock. This will increase the old portfolio greatly.

Want to sell but can't | Oil is acting a little weird

News that would have sent oil skyrocketing didn't. The oil pipeline explosion should have sent oil realing and it didn't. The reason I mention this is that I have a large percentage of my portfolio in oil. My instinct is to sell the PBR thats in my short portfolio.


This the the 5 day chart for PBR




But if you look at the charts its not a good time with the stock hover at its day low. I will check it closely tomorrow early AM

Deep Down

I am all tapped out but I really really wish I could enter DPDW at 1.27

Please someone buy this stock!

Its at a all time low.

The AM Stock Watch List

Good morning,

I am heavily invested into this bull run now and am doubtful I will make any moves today other than taking some of my gains off the table. These stocks are on my watch list this morning.

GBT - short
CRDB - buy
PKT - buy
EMDAW - buy
XTLB - buy

My portfolio (long term investments) gained substantially yesterday +22%. Its a good thing to balance off my short term investments that are in the negative!

I am hoping to fix that with my entries into GOOG at aprox. 681 and PBR at aprox. 91 both are up at least 10% since yesterday.

Sorry its really early for me and I haven't had my latte yet. I am going to fix that now.

The Truth Hurts :(

Hi Folks,

I need to to report that my short positions on RICK and TASR cost me 3.8% in the last two to three days.

That's not the positive gains I am looking for. When your trading stocks you have to be like a quarterback, you have to have short memory. Face your loses and forget them.

I am doing much better riding the bull on Google's back.

Oh yea I have added YGE to the "Wish I owned it list" - Large producer of photo electric cells & its a Chinese based company & a bird told me that the photoelectric cell industry is about to heat up. Solar is going to be in big play before the end of 2007 (like oil is now)


Report more soon.

Purchased shares Of Google

I couldn't stand by and watch this stock go on. With their entry into alternative energy I can't just watch this stock break $700 and not take advantage of it. Well I am in.



Purchased Google at $681.13, sorry couldn't resist.

Out of my short positions - TASR and RICK

I am out of my shorts ladies and gentleman. I think the bull market is going to run up everything. I may jump in GOOG or DPDW. I am also sniffing Nintendo.

Out of TASR too much good news lawsuits dismissed

The stock is up almost 4% uncomfortable with the stocks gains, covering my shorts early this morning. It will be a challange because I will have to look at how many bids (people want to buy the stocks) are out there versus the asks (people want to sell).

Basically TASR got a couple of the lawsuits dismissed which is bad for me and good for taser...

The Main Reason Why I Short RICK'S CABARET INTERNATIONAL, INC.

RICK'S CABARET INTERNATIONAL, INC. (RICK) charts are some of the worst I have seen when you match it up with the news on the stock. This stock is at its highest point in 5 years based on nothing. Can you say over inflated ...

I like the website www.wikinvest.com because they seem to have a good engine for matching up news with stocks. Its in its beginning stages and not all stocks are listed but some of the major one are.


Please look at this chart and tell me if you don't see a fall in their future.



I have shorted this stock and its in my short term holdings basket (versus the stocks I want to hold onto for longer or my long positions for you beginning investors)

Google gets into alternative energy

Oh my. Cellular and Alternative Energy and 10% of the internet for under $700. Read Article

This company is worth over 200 billion and have no debt

You will wish you owned this stock under $700

STRONG BUY - IRA CERTIFIED

Holding My Short Term Positions Another Day

Breaking the cardinal rule folks. Holding onto my short positions. I recently made a 10% profit on a pharmaceutical stock that showed some explosive growth that day and it seemed logical that there would be some profit taking the next day.

Like a vulture I came into the stock high on the exuberant buying and saw it give back all its gains it had made the previous day. After reading the message boards I saw that it was poised to fall further.

My folks came over and convinced me to get out now and take my profits off the table. My dad even reminded me of when we were up in Vegas $3,000.00 and I was suckered back down to the tables by some young sweet girls only to loose every penny.

I don't want to end up like this. I don't want to end up like MC Hammer wearing parachute pants and singing gospel music. But I am going to hold onto these stinkers, I mean stocks for another day. I am documenting this so if I go south anymore than what I am at least you folks can laugh at me all together :)

Okay well here are my short positions and were they stand an hour or so before the bell.

TASR - $12.68 - Betting it will drop - $12.85 ticking lower :(
RICK- $14.50 - Betting it will drop - $14.89 ticking lower :(
PBR- $94.50 - Betting it will rise - $94.70 ticking lower :)

At the start of the day

TASR - $12.68 - Betting it will drop - $12.75 ticking lower :)
RICK- $14.50 - Betting it will drop - $14.44 ticking lower :)
PBR- $94.50 - Betting it will rise - $94.43 ticking lower :(

Here are my short positions for the day

TASR - $12.68 - Betting it will drop
RICK- $14.50 - Betting it will drop
PBR- $94.50 - Betting it will rise

Good Message Board Post on RICK

I try not to pass on to many message board posts and give you an easy to understand summary of all the research I do. I also try to do this in real time so you can follow or watch my trades go north or south (I think that is fairly unique). Anyhow please read what this guy had to say about RICK:

I knew that PTT wouldn't hold its own here and RIck was the better of the two plays. There is a bigger problem which is the Dow is falling ..here is the reason high oil prices / gas prices..The uncertainty of election politics. who thought that front ending the primaries was a good idea was foolish. More uncertainty. People are pulling their money from the Market over the long run this has always proven to be a stupid idea by investors. However the likelihood of the Market going further down the tubes before year end is high. It would not surprise me that we will hit 12500 or 12250 by year end. There is no reason to believe that we will fall much further here for Rick's but PTT will continue to slide

TASR is up 2.% in pre market activity

TASR - Oh boy. TASR is up $.30 in pre market trading. I can't lie I am feeling the squeeze here. The one thing I have learned is to not panic at the beginning of the day and to check the price if you have to sell the afternoon is a good time.We will see.

RICK - No pre market movement on RICK . I was just asking my friends why can't someone investigate them or something :) I mean I have read in several financial boards that they are the Amsterdam of the America and have legalized prostitution - come on some one please investigate these guys

PBR - Down .77% or $.77 in pre market trading.

Looks like my short positions are all treating me bad today.

Google's stock price ends the day at $666 (GOOG)

Okay thats just scary. I wanted to mention this stock as one of the stocks I like long term. Someone said owning Google will be like owning 10% of the internet. As a web designer I understand just how serious some of the advertising moves google is making. They will own much more than 10%.

Buy 1 share buy a half of share whatever you can afford buy GOOG (Google).

Put it in your IRA - it's that good. And no this is not a sign from the Devil.

Purchased PBR (Petroleo Brasileiro) @ 95.71 - Trying to be more optimistic

Folks I looked at my long positions and saw that PBR (Petroleo Brasileiro) had lossed $10 a share or about 10% of its value in the last 5 days.

This isn't right they just found 5 billion barrels of oil and oil prices are going up. I am predicting a 10% jump over the next few days. So I am in this long term (with PBR/A) and now short term with PBR. I like this company and did before they fond the 5 billion barrels of oil that sent their stock price flaring.

Well now I have three short positions to manage great. Just to recap for the novice investor short means I am betting the stock will go down and long means I am betting the stock price will go up.

My plays for this week are:

RICK - short
PBR - long
TASR - short

Wish I Could Enter DPDW (DEEP DOWN,INC.)

I am holding onto my shorts probably until tomorrow's trading day. I don't like to keep more than three short positions because its too stressful. The dozen or so long positions I hold are enough to keep track of.

To make a long story short I am wishing I could enter DPDW (DEEP DOWN,INC.).

It up 2.17% today and is still way under $2 a share.

I choose the dark side. I choose to bet stocks would do bad (shorting stocks) versus seeing the glass as half full.

Oh well maybe one of my readers will buy DPDW for me. :)

Okay Johnny Buy DPDW!

Shorted TASR @ 12.77

Executed order at 9:31

TASR on CBS The Early Show - Really Bad Press

Goodmorning,

I know that this weekend I was thinking about shorting TASR. I just remember that stock when I was investing in it around $8 a share. Now its in the low teens and dropping. Something tells me with all the bad press that we may see it test some new lows.

I think that walking to my shower and seeing this on the Morning Show is a sign (check out the video yourself). I also think that the UN debating wether to label TASERING a form of torture is even worst.

Listen I am going to SHORT THE HECK OUT OF TASR this morning. I usually don't do any trades until about 10, but this is going to be an exception.

So for the record I have short positions in RICK and now TASR.

Wish me luck!

I'm Long on Oil Stocks - Especially Deep Down, Inc.

Deep Down, Inc. is $1.38 a share. Yes you can own part of an oil company that specializes in finding oil offshore for under $2. This stock has had explosive growth and its a gem in rough.

I will be going long on this stock as soon as I can. The ticker is DPDW and I recommend that you get in at this point and hold on for a while.

Thinking Of Shorting TASR

Good Sunday Morning,

The serious traders never stop thinking about what new opportunities they might exploit. I have been working on some websites when I walked into my room and my iMac was showing me the the most interesting RSS feed on my screen saver. Oh this is going to sound bad, but not as bad as me invseting in Cephid (CPHD) when the anthrax scar hit, ok here we go:

Man Dies From Taser (read article on TASR)


This causes me mixed feelings. I feel bad for the man who died but I see what most investors are going to see on Monday. Canada, who just armed their version of the police, with these TASER's are going to see some resistance to using them in the future.

And oh yea didn't they just get a deal in England too? Didn't I read something about the brit's trading in their billy clubs for Tasers...(I always feel like Austin Power's saying laser when I say TASER)

This could spell trouble. Especially since this stock has lost about a third of its value since the beginning of October.

I am thinking about shorting this stock on Monday. After hours trading has the stock ticking down. This may be a good one or two day in and out profit pump.

I will keep you posted...

Retail Sector Up 18% but profits expected to be thin

That was the word mummering from the cash registers at most retail stores. I think its a shorting season on Retail. If the consumer is going to blindly keep spending when everyone and their mother sees a recession coming then we may be in for a long recession...

When Black Friday Comes

I woke up this morning thinking, "When does the retail market take responsibility for the slumping sales they are sure to incur?"

My thought is that there is no IT gadget or product this year. You discount a piece of coal to $.01 but nobody wants a lump of coal for Christmas!

I am not bitter because I only made a few pennies instead of the large profit I could have made if I cover it one day earlier, I am placing the buck where needs to placed. Stop whining retail sector and invest in some innovation.

DDS out @ 18.10 Covered My Shorts :(

Lots of stress for 2%. Okay well 2% over two or three trading days isn't bad. I could have done a lot better IF I would ahve stayed in the stock a lot shorter (yes shorter than two days - one day - should have taken it at 16.50 or 17) and I should not be so optimistic when covering a short by placing an unrealistic limit price on it.

I need a latte, I need to make better profits than a stinking 2%. I need the success of PBR or NOV.

Like I said I am considering going long on this stock now that I have seen it test this low so effectively.

Stock Investing 101 - How do you calculate percentage gain or loss on an investment?

Okay every now and then I am going to break down some basics that I think will help out the novice investor. If you are savoy don't be snobby and skip this post. For those of you that are learning, I feel that knowing your gains is like looking at your kill. For better or for worst you have to get to this task every transaction you make. You should never hop offline or get off the phone with your broker without assessing what your kill looks like.

This is a good article that will help you out:

Calculating the percentage change of your investment is quite easy. All it takes is a little bookkeeping and either a simple calculator or a pad of paper for doing the long division. Here is what you need to do:

Take amount that you have gained on the investment and divide it by the amount invested. To calculate the gain, take the price for which you sold the investment and subtract it from the price that you initially paid for it. Now that you have your gain, divide the gain by the original amount of the investment. Finally, multiply your answer by 100 to get the percentage change in your investment.

If the percentage is negative, resulting from the market value being lower than the book value, you have lost on your investment. If the percentage is positive, resulting from market value being greater than book value, you have gained on your investment.

Here is what the formula looks like:

(Price Sold - Purchase Price)/(Purchase Price)

If you haven't sold the investment, you can use the current market price in the place of the price sold.

This basic formula is used every day to find out exactly how many percentage points indexes, stocks, interest rates, and so on have changed over a given period of time. For example, if the Dow Jones Industrial Average opens at 9,000 and closes at 9,300 today, the formula would show that the percentage change over the day was 3.33% [(9,300 – 9,000) / (9,000)].

However, investing does not come without costs and this should be reflected in the calculation of your percent gain or loss. The above is an illustration of the calculation without costs, such as commissions and taxing. To incorporate costs, reduce the gain (market price - price purchased) by the costs of investing. By incorporating these costs you will get a more accurate representation of your gain or loss. Also, if your investment paid out any income, such as a dividend, you will need to add this amount to the gain amount.

Here is a more detailed way to calculate gain or loss:

[(Amount Sold - Amount Paid) + Income Gain - Costs]/Amount Paid

Gentleman's Club Fist Fight - Read This Post

Yahoo Financial Blog - Click This Link To Read An Informative Post on The Shorting of RICK

Takeover, Sleepover - more On Dillard Department Stores - DDS

Lets not get crazy here people but DDS is up around 17.94 with some positive ticks. If this thing get to $18.00 I have to get out! I would have to abandon my strategy of waiting until next week. That would be a bummer. I know this stock is goign to fall around 15-14. I just intuitively feel its got to test that bottom out.

Please understand that I will more than likely convert this stock to a long term position and through it in my IRA once I cover my short position. I am under the impression that this stock has been beat to hell. And I like their real estate holdings and think the market will come back one day.

But hey for the Some interesting news came out, but as news goes it could just be some smoke and mirrors. There is some articles that talked about how the top executives had worked out a golden parachute plan (read this thread for a better take on things)

RICK - Shorting Gentleman Clubs In A Bad Economy

I am thinking this is a no brainer and the only reason this stock is up is because of anaylst booha.

More on this later I promise but I just shorted RICK (RICK'S CABARET INTERNATIONAL INC) at Limit Price of $14.02

Shorted Dillard Deparment Stores, Inc. on 11/20/2007

Wow, the market being open today is like being caught smoking in the boys room. It's like someone scaring you when you come around the corner, yikes! I mean really the market should be closed today, like most business!

Well anyways I forgot to mention that I shorted DDS last week. It is the third move I made in November and I wanted to get it documented.

DDS - Dillard Department Stores, Inc.

If you go in the store its horribly empty. I also know that with most retail companies you have to take into account the real estate that they own (click here to read a great message thread on this), and Dillards owns a lot. But I just can't shake that whenever I walk into the stores it looks like the sales people are trying so hard not to act desperate that its comical.

I saw that they were up 30% one day early last week on some really bogus news. The company had reported 3 quarter problems but yet the stock was surging.

Then I saw another release come out and the light bulb went off. Dillards was issuing a stock buy back program and they had an upgrade from some analyst that obviously would support the idea that Dillards was not valuable because they are a retail company but because they are a large holder of real estate.

Well sometimes the market doesn't respond to reason. Sometimes it goes off common sense or lets call it emotional sense. People think Dillards, they see the news talking about Black Friday and how the retail sector is going to Haites, they hear that the Federal reserve chairman is saying that it is more than likely that we are going into a recession, and they start to get emotional about these topics. They start to think to themselves that it would be stupid to gout and spend money on lavish gifts because they were watching the today show and Ann Curry said most Americans are tightening their purse strings this year, I should too. Some of those people are investors ...

Hey I am with the stock gurus who say Dillards is a great stock because of the real estate they own and the stock should be at $50 a share. Listen I though Webvan was a great idea, did that mean that the company should be rewarded by the market? Well let me tell you having groceries delivered to my door step in 1999 was awesome. I am glad a associate of mine has brought it back in 2005. The poor stockholders and employees of Webvan should have had seen growth that reflected its pioneering ideas. Instead it was picked apart in by Analyst. Well now its the revenge of emotional sense.

So I shorted DDS on 11/20 at 18.40

I could have and should have jumped out at 16.57 the next day 11/21. I would have kept my margin interest down and I would have saved myself some extra grey hairs. But something told me to wait until after Black Friday when some of the stores start to report what I saw. That the shoppers were going into the stores and buying the drastically reduced - get you in the store sale items. They were only buying those items... The idea is to get you to buy other items too.

Also there were not a lot of people at the malls. I watched the news reports and they were reporting half full parking lots. Not a good sign.

Well we will see. I want out of this stock next week. It's up today 2.7% but I am still in the positive gains so I can hold my breath until Monday... I hope...

p.s. read this article on DDS and how it missed its 3Q profits its a good one.

Current Target Sectors and Why I Am Investing In Them

OIL - I like Oil Stocks but don't like oil companies. My feeling is that the profits that they (Exon, Shell, BP, etc.) made in the past two years are going to open them up as targets especially when gas starts to hit $4. What could happen? i don't know - the government could sue them, congress could take them to task, oil spills could cause public outcry. These big players also don't see the stock price swings like .... OIL REFINERY STOCKS, OIL TECHNOLOGY STOCKS, OIL CONSULTING STOCKS, EXPLORATION....

TECHNOLOGY - Oh technology I love. I love it so much it makes me blush. Companies like Yahoo and TTWO have been beat up so much lately they are great stocks to pick up at 25.71 (YHOO) and 14.85 (TTWO). Sorry I was talking about industries! The technology industry went through its correction back at the turn of the century now companies like GOOGLE (GOOG) and China's technology boom make me excited to bet heavy on tech stocks.

FINANCIAL - I think financial stocks are sexy. I like the moves some of them are making. More on this later.

Thats the sectors I'm in. Getting ready to get some turkey.

Welcome Investors Large and Small

Hello Investors,

I want to start off by thanking you for visiting the Sonic Money Blog. My goal is simple. I want to share the research, thoughts, and investment moves that I am making on a daily basis with the world. No credentials, no ratings, no minimums. This is what the internet is for and I am excited to share my success with you.

Technology has made it so that anyone in a bathrobe with an iMac can trade 100,000's of barrels of oil, or short companies 10,000's of dollars. Old school investors hate it, I personally think its wonderful. We have seen many of the bathrobe money managers produce results that beat those guys and gals down on Wall Street. I'm not knocking them, I just think that the days of how things use to be are falling by the waste-side. Its part of my investment strategy and a big part of my life. I invest in companies who embody innovation, companies that stand to make big gains in the short term, and companies that are working on technology that has not been realized by the average investor. This is where the real money is to be made - whatever sector your investing in.

Okay the stock positions that I am in currently. I will follow this post up with individual entries over this Thanksgiving weekend with the whys, don't worry.


AAPL
ARSD.OB
BX
GLFAX
INTC
JOBS
JRJC
NOV
PBR-A
SLB
SOHU
TTWO
YHOO