Another very strong week for me. As we sit here on February 1st, my portfolio is up 7.1%, about an 80 basis point beat of the Russell 3000. I will give a lot more detail over the weekend.
Every keeps scratching their head wondering how the market keep just going up, despite relatively poor GDP numbers; political squabbling, high unemployment etc, etc, etc (as the King of Siam would say). I do not have an answer, though in moments of optimism, I do wonder if the United States is on the brink of a great era. The fact that we have found so much plentiful and cheap natural gas and oil is a real game changer for the next decade. It is going to give us a great competitive advantage versus the globe for manufacturing, chemicals, refining, agriculture... pretty much anything that is heavily energy dependent. I know we still have a lot of hurdles and challenges; but I actually think we have a shot at solidifying our spot as the economic leader of the world.
Of course I am just thinking, that is not the Ultimate Bear Signal as I titled this blog. The UBS (apologies to the bank, where UBS stands for U Been Sacked), is the fact that I just bought my third MFI tranche. I know, I know, I was scheduled to buy it on February 15th. I suppose I was over-whelmed with the euphoria of Dow 14,000.
So now that my apology is over, let me tell my 20 regular readers my five new MFI stocks. There is a surprise or two. Let us go alphabetical:
- AAPL - I know they are already in my second tranche. But I have only committed to trying to pick the five best stocks each quarter, never said I would not double up. I got 'em at $450.60. I do not think I need to get on the soap box, read Sh(aapl)led from last week.
- CA - this is Computer Associates. I have thought about buying them about 100 times. They meet my dividend requirement as they pay a snappy 4% dividend. They have a fortress balance sheet and their earnings have been very stable. Recall my discussion a couple days ago about how I thought 2013 would be the year pent-up M&A demand starts up? CA is a perfect company for some one to snap up.
- GA - Not sure if people know Giant Interactive. If you go back and look at my top 200 list, you'll see they are top 10. First the "negative" news. They are based in China. I know, I have taken my lumps there. But they are a cash-generating machine, kind of the ultimate "Jake's Bubble Gum Shop" from Greenblatt's book. I can tell they are "real" as they are a billion $ company and have paid out tons of "real" dividends. They have a core group of online games, so kind of like Electronic Arts or Take Two, except they are 100% on the web.
- NUS - this is a MLM (dirty word since the HLF power point came out), but therein lies the opportunity as they have sold off of late. They have a decent 1.8% dividend (GA is around 5%, varies by year).
- STRZA - this is a spin-off (which can often unlock great value) from Liberty Media. They are the STARZ franchise; like HBO.
| August 15 Tranche | |||||
| Stock | Start | Current | Dividend | Pct Gain | R3K Gain |
| DLB | $34.43 | $32.39 | $4.00 | 5.7% | 9.8% |
| $13.98 | $17.26 | $0.00 | 23.5% | 9.8% | |
| $30.19 | $27.93 | $0.23 | -6.7% | 9.8% | |
| NSU | $3.62 | $4.17 | $0.05 | 16.7% | 9.8% |
| $19.96 | $23.17 | $0.00 | 16.1% | 9.8% | |
| Totals | 11.1% | 9.8% | |||
| November 15 Tranche | |||||
| Stock | Start | Current | Dividend | Pct Gain | R3K Gain |
| $537.62 | $453.62 | $0.00 | -15.6% | 13.2% | |
| $40.21 | $46.53 | $0.00 | 15.7% | 13.2% | |
| LPS | $23.89 | $24.16 | $0.10 | 1.5% | 13.2% |
| VIAB | $49.12 | $60.54 | $0.28 | 23.8% | 13.2% |
| WU | $12.77 | $14.38 | $0.13 | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| Totals | 7.8% | 13.2% | |||
| February 1st Tranche | |||||
| Stock | Start | Current | Dividend | Pct Gain | R3K Gain |
| $450.60 | $453.62 | $0.00 | 0.7% | 0.2% | |
| GA | $6.10 | $6.12 | $0.00 | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| STRZA | $16.06 | $16.16 | $0.00 | 0.6% | 0.2% |
| CA | $25.07 | $25.03 | $0.00 | -0.2% | 0.2% |
| $41.94 | $41.80 | $0.00 | -0.3% | 0.2% | |
| Totals | 0.2% | 0.2% |
I will post more tomorrow as I have the saga of PVD (adios?) to discuss plus the regular catch-up.
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