Bonfire of the Vanities

If people haven't read Tom Wolfe's great book they should. The movie didn't do the book justice. My portfolio held up well today in a down market.

Taking Stock, a few random thoughts about MFI stocks.

MSTR - I always think of Master of the Universe when I see this symbol, though it actually stands for Microstrategy. This is my second dance with MSTR. The first time I made a nifty 36%, buying around $96 and selling at about $128. It turned out that $128 was pretty close to their 52 week high (not all time high though as this was a bubble highflier that got as high as (ready for this?) $1,388 in January 2000 and then fell as low as $5 in June 2002! Those were giddy days. Anyway, I digress. I bought them a nose under $70 in September when they re-appeared on the charts. Today they spiked 10% (for no reason I see, though they did get an upgrade) to about $87.

IVAC - also had a nice day today, up about 6% though still a big loser for me. Again, not sure of the reason for the spike.

TGIS - I am antsy waiting on their earnings report on Wednesday. This stock dropped from $12+ back in July to about $8 after a poor 2nd quarter which saw them show negative growth in the 1st half of 2007. They have fought back over $10. I re-read their 2nd quarter earnings report and their CEO said he expected the 2nd half of 2007 to show growth over 2nd half of 2006. If they hit that and look like a growth company once again, they could move back over $12.

KG - I have had such good success with the 2nd dance with MSTR, I have started to court KG. I was also fortunate with them, posting a nice 20% plus gain my 1st year. Since I sold them over $21 they have fallen to a nose over $10. I can't believe there is much downside left and any good news will likely result in a quick 30% gain. I know they are partners on some bio tch drugs that have promise.