One process, one stock

Ran a little experiment today. I went to the MSN stock screener and searched for stocks with:
1.) P/E less than 10
2.) P/B less than 1.2
3.) Debt to Equity less than 2
4.) Current Ratio of at least 1.5
5.) Some dividend

And I came up with the following list:
REMC,CQB,HDL,ABRI,ILX,IBA,LEV,NAFC,MHO,
OSG,BAK,SPF,PORK,ELRN,CRV,GMR,TNP,MDC

Since I already own 2 homebuilders and Home Depot, I eliminated them. They are: LEV, MHO, SPF, and MDC. Although I would buy MDC here.

I have exposure to oil shippers, so get rid of OSG, GMR, and TNP

I already own NAFC also.

For the rest:
REMC, CQB, ABRI, BAK, ELRN, and CRV are eliminated due to negative earnings in the last five years.

IBA and PORK are out because information is too hard to find.
HDL has no growth in the five year comparison.

That leaves, drumroll please, ILX. I will check it out get back to you.

I have no position in ILX and have no idea what they do...yet.

Worst. Week. Ever.

Ok. I am down 4.78% in one week. Will I pack it in? Will I start reading IBD again? Am I wrong to buy and hold the weak and hold until resurrection?

No.

The list of last week's pigs is long: COMS, TLAB, COHU, LRCX, KLAC, IPAS, AVCI, AMSWA, AOI, EXPE, LENS. I remain a holder (bag holder) to them all. I wish I had something witty to say about all this but all I can come up with is: Their losses appear a tad overdone.

We sit and hold. We have a new week. We are still up 12.29% for the year.

Expedia (EXPE) cracked $15 bucks but is bouncing back.

Who says buy and hold doesn't pay.

I will be back later.

Why, oh why, do I try various styles?

Last year, I picked up some Expedia spinoff shares. Joel Greenblatt says pick up spinoffs, right. How are they doing? Oh, just wonderful. Without charges, they still missed estimates by 7 cents.

Will they turn around? Who knows. Revenues are not growing. Perhaps hotels.com, southwest.com, travelzoo, and the host of others are cutting into business.

I am very tempted to sell. But tomorrow, these guys will be selling below their book value.


Hhhhhmmmmmmm.

Nevertheless, I have tried following Value Line, IBD, and now spinoffs. Yet I only have success when I look at the ratios then the annual reports. Call me a contrarian.

It's ok. It seems to pay.
****************************
Other disappointing spinoffs that I have bought: THS and ABD.
Even DISCA does not move ever.

Some websites to check out for stock ideas:
Stock picks
1.) Magic Formula Investing: Suppose you want cheap stocks that earn well. Check this site out.
2.) Reuters Stock Screener: Free stock screener with alot of bells and whistles.
3.) MSN Stock Screener: Another freebie with some cool variables.
4.) Guru Focus: Tells you what the really good investors are doing.
5.) Graham Investor: Shows you what the ol' master might like.

The Week in Review

For the week ending May 5, 2006, the ol' portfolio was up 1.24 percent versus DIA (up 1.49), QQQQ (up .74), and SPY (up .79). An ok week with some standouts like VSH, LRCX, VECO, PKX, EMN, and DIS.

Interesting Grahamian pick on PKX, I picked it up last year because of its low P/E, P/B, high Current Ratio, growing earnings, and dividend. It showed respectable growth before the last month when takeover rumors circulated on the company. Now we are up about 62.5%. I would like to get $90 or so. We will hold for awhile.

Lam Research (LRCX) is also on a tear. I purchased this one in July of 2004 at 22.43. Despite some bumps in the road early, it has been a nice choice (138%).

As for a current choice, I am looking at some stocks but can't make up my mind on three choices
1.) Undervalued Big Cap. I bought a few of these in the recent months. Although names like MSFT, INTC, IBM look good, I am a little hesitant on loading up here.
2.) Undervalued Small Cap. I can't find one I really, really like. I have been looking at NETM, SGTL, PLAY
3.) Increasing positions on current holdings. Where though, where?

I will get back to you.

RIP Louis Rukeyser, 1933 - 2006

When I was younger and dumber and first stumbled into the investing world about 12 years ago, I thought of Mr. Rukeyser as a goofy and amiable pumper of all things bullish. My oh-so-worldly view did not perceive the wisdom that was the basis of his optimism. Yeah, the dollar may be down, interest rates will rise, recessions will be there however, HOWEVER, there ARE businesses and stocks and methods of staying invested that will provide the little guy, you and me, an opportunity to provide for our families. And perhaps, if we are prudent, we can scrape together the "screw you" money we need.
Those who follow the markets, CNBC, Peter Lynch, Martin Zweig, owe a great debt to Mr. Rukeyser.
I hope he rests in peace.
Jim Grant, formerly of Barrons' currently of Forbes and his own newsletter, is a far, far better writer than me. Here is his obituary.

Belatedly, our week in review...

For the week, the ol' portfolio was up about .17 percent. We were soundly beaten by the SPY and DIA. Thank you AET and DRL.

For the year, our total return is 16.48% versus DIA 6.98%, SPY 5.59%, and QQQQ 3.56%. All numbers discount dividends.

See you if anything interesting pops up.