2007 Moves into the Red

Well, this 200+ down day has placed my entire portfolio for 2007 officially into the red. My MFI portfolio was already in the red, but now as a whole I am there. The talking heads (besides Kudlow, the great optimist) suggest it may continue. Fisher call the market "the great humiliator" and I think we're all seeing that first hand (you don't have to read the book).

Earnings Update

TGB - announced earnings this evening (Taseko Announces Third Quarter Results for Fiscal 2007). They looked ok to me, not sure why their revenues were down, but earnings were up. The stock did trade down AH, but what do they know?

USHS - announced earnings after the bell. The stock is down about 45% since the prior quarter's earnings, so expectations must have been pretty low (U.S. Home Systems Reports Second Quarter 2007 Financial Results). They were basically down about 5% from last year. Considering the housing slowdown, not exactly a disaster. I'd look for this stock to recover by next summer... and I can wait.

HGG - This is a stock I added a couple of weeks ago (hhgregg, Inc. Announces Operating Results for the Fiscal Quarter Ended June 30, 2007). I thought their numbers were terrific. Revenues up 25% and 10 cents per share vs a 5 cent loss from a year ago. HGG sells high end consumer products (think home theater) and provides much more service than a Best Buy, so the have differentiation.

UNTD - announced they are spinning off their Classmates.Com (Will the Classmates.com IPO make the grade?). Not sure what that means to stock holders, I guess we don't get any shares of the spin-off. They were one of my stocks in the green, so I guess investors were pleased.

Finally, I'll just mentioned I started a new book today, "The World is Flat". It discusses how the world is changing as many jobs can be located anywhere, which means people in the US are competin with the Chinese and Indians for jobs. And from what I have read so far, the Indians and Chinese seem a lot more motivated than us. Stay tuned.