• Stat of the Day
    Posted by on August 13th, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    From its peak in 1980, if the price of gold had kept pace with total return of the Wilshire 5000, today gold would be worth over $21,000 an ounce.

  • When All the Small Things Includes Your Portfolio
    Posted by on August 12th, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    He lost
    It all
    So screwed
    he is
    Oh no!
    Must tour
    A-gain
    Ha Ha
    Dumb Ass
    Say it ain’t so
    Where did it go
    One Point Five Mil
    See you in Court
    Na, na, na, na…..

  • A Very Short Post
    Posted by on August 12th, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    I’d really like to buy T. Rowe Price (TROW) but I think it’s about $10 too expensive here.
    image704.png
    Pretty sweet chart tho.

  • Sysco’s Earnings
    Posted by on August 12th, 2008 at 11:17 am

    In terms of relative performance, these have been great times for the Buy List. Yesterday, Sysco (SYY) added 4% on good earnings news. Typically, this is one of the most stable large-cap stocks on Wall Street. For Q2, Sysco earned 55 cents a share, three cents more than estimates. Last year, Sysco netted 49 cents a share so the company is growing well.

  • Thank You NICK
    Posted by on August 12th, 2008 at 10:43 am

    I’m up 27% in three weeks since my last purchase of Nicholas Financial (NICK). It takes patience but the market is not efficient. The stock is still going for less than 80% of book.

  • From the NYT Corrections
    Posted by on August 11th, 2008 at 10:54 am

    August 11, 2008

    The Arts
    A listing of credits on April 28, 1960, with a theater review of “West Side Story” on its return to the Winter Garden theater, misstated the surname of the actor who played Action. He is George Liker, not Johnson. (Mr. Liker, who hopes to audition for a role in a Broadway revival of the show planned for February, brought the error to The Times’s attention last month. )

  • Gas Prices fall for 24 Straight Days
    Posted by on August 11th, 2008 at 10:45 am

    Supply and Demand continues to work its magic:

    Retail gasoline prices have fallen for the 24th straight day, a AAA survey of gas station sales showed.
    The national average price for a gallon of regular gas are down more than 7 percent from the record high of $4.114 on July 16, CNNMoney.com reported Sunday.
    Even with gas prices falling, Friday’s national average price is more than $1 higher than it was a year ago.
    In Alaska, the state with the highest prices, drivers pay an average of $4.63 a gallon, the AAA study found. Oklahoma and Missouri have the lowest gas prices, at $3.58 a gallon.
    Diesel, meanwhile, is up nearly 55 percent from last year’s levels. The national average price for diesel fuel fell Sunday to $4.557 a gallon.
    The AAA study is based on data from credit card swipes at 85,000 U.S. fuel stations.

  • Citigroup Trader “Dooced”
    Posted by on August 8th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

    Michael J. McCarthy aka “Large” has been fired from his job as a Citigroup trader for running his blog, Take A Report.

    “This employee was terminated for behavior that violated the firm’s code of conduct and policies,” Citigroup spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos said. McCarthy, a vice president, declined to comment on his departure from the New York-based bank. Financial industry regulatory records show he’s been at Citigroup for seven years, most recently trading shares of utility and power companies.
    “It’s a little over the top,” said Barry Ritholtz, director of equity research for New York-based Fusion IQ, who has looked at the site and has his own financial blog at www.bigpicture.typepad.com. “I can see why a conservative bank is not going to be happy with it. It’s funny as hell.”

  • My Buy List YTD
    Posted by on August 7th, 2008 at 10:47 pm

    image703.png
    Through today, the Buy List is down -10.39% while the S&P 500 is down -13.78%. Neither figure includes dividends. The daily volatility of the Buy List is 7.17% greater than the S&P 500.

  • Analyst says Bed Bath & Beyond well positioned
    Posted by on August 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    From the AP:

    An analyst said Thursday that Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. remains one of the “best operators” in its sector and will likely withstand the nation’s economic downturn better than many of its competitors.
    Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Vivian Ma told investors in a research note that the Union, N.J.-based specialty home retailer has no plans to cut back on reinvestments.
    “We believe that (Bed Bath & Beyond) remains one of the best operators in the home goods space and should continue to navigate the challenging consumer environment better than the competition,” Ma wrote.
    The analyst added that the retailer remains “very focused on superior execution to drive share gains.