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November, 2005: 2 8 13
Disclaimer - IMPORTANT - Read this first!
| Investor's Journal is a diary focused strictly on investments and personal finance issues, primarily from a contrarian and retiree point of view. Follow along with an average guy's failures and successes as he learns, by trial and error, the fine art of value investing. |
11/2/05-Currently, both our gross total assets and equity book value year-end goals have already been achieved. Margin debt, however, stands at 6% of the total, and it would be good to get it down further, to zero, in fact, if consistent with still meeting those Dec. 31 targets.
The performance through this morning of our tracked portfolios and of the S&P 500 Index have been as follows:
| Portfolio or Index | Average Asset Hold Period | Average Change | Annualized Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Value* | 194 days | +12.88% | +25.60% |
| Leapin' Lizards* | 186 days | +8.60% | +17.57% |
| S&P 500 Index* | 394 days | +6.98% | +6.45% |
| Yummy Yielders | 5 days | +6.84% | - |
| Mama's Mix Stock Portfolio | 7 days | +7.05% | - |
(The statistics are as of 11 AM, central time, and reflect price appreciation only. Dividend income has not been added. Commissions have been subtracted from the tracked portfolio results but not from those of the S&P 500 Index.)( *since inception, 10/4/04)
The new asset this time will replace the Classic Value (CV) holding, BIOS, which was purchased on 11/2/04. BIOS will be sold at the early market price tomorrow. It is up about 15% since a year ago.
The selection this week is among the low price to earnings ratio candidates and will be added to the Classic Value tracking portfolio, also at the early price in the morning. The top choices are: BNSO; CYD; DRAM; PHG; and STX.
My pick among them is Dataram Corp. (DRAM) (recent price $6.52). DRAM has a market capitalization of $55.88 million, a trailing P/E of 9.03, a 1.60% dividend (with a dividend payout ratio of 0.07), a price to sales ratio of 0.85, a return on equity of 31.95%, a price to book value of 2.38, an excellent current ratio (8.81), zero debt to equity, a shareholder equity to total assets ratio of 0.89, and positive free cash flow.
DRAM will be added too, at tomorrow's early market price, to the Mama's Mix Stock Portfolio, a 50/50 blend of the Classic Value and Yummy Yielders (YY) selections, intended to be lucrative enough and yet also safe enough for one's mother to use.
11/8/05-Performance through the close of trading this afternoon of our tracked portfolios and of the S&P 500 Index have been as follows:
| Portfolio or Index | Average Asset Hold Period | Average Change | Annualized Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Value* | 200 days | +12.50% | +23.98% |
| Leapin' Lizards* | 197 days | +8.44% | +16.20% |
| S&P 500 Index* | 400 days | +7.69% | +6.99% |
| Yummy Yielders | 11 days | +2.30% | - |
| Mama's Mix Stock Portfolio | 10 days | +4.03% | - |
(The statistics are as of the end of trading today and reflect price appreciation only. Dividend income has not been added. Commissions have been subtracted from the tracked portfolio results but not from those of the S&P 500 Index. Please note: The holding period for the average LL asset has been corrected. It was shown as too low in the previous entry.)( *since inception, 10/4/04)
The new asset this time will replace the Leapin' Lizard (LL) holding, HOC, which was purchased on 11/8/04. HOC will be sold at the early market price tomorrow. It is up about 134% since a year ago.
The selection this week is among the Yummy Yielders (YY) candidates and so will be added, also at the early price in the morning, to that tracking portfolio. The top choices are: AEG; ARKR; CYD; NFB; and NHY.
My pick among them is Ark Restaurants Corp. (ARKR) (recent price $28.44). ARKR has a market capitalization of $98.29 million, a trailing P/E of 13.08, a 4.91% dividend (with a dividend payout ratio of 0.48), a price to sales ratio of 0.84, a return on equity of 22.27%, a price to book value of 2.70, a current ratio of 1.38, zero debt to equity, a shareholder equity to total assets ratio of 0.81, and positive free cash flow.
ARKR will also be added to the Mama's Mix Stock Portfolio, a 50/50 blend of the Classic Value (CV) and Yummy Yielders (YY) selections, intended to be lucrative enough and yet also adequately safe for one's mother to use.
11/13/05-This is simply an interim update. The next analyses, for replacements to the upcoming year-and-a-day hold assets to be sold/deleted from the tracked portfolios, would not occur until 11/18, with the one following that scheduled for 11/24.
However, before then Fran and I shall be on our way to FL for a visit till quite late in the month with her mother. I'll resume the journal within a few days after our return, at which time I'll cover both of the new selections.
Currently, were I making a purchase, I would choose from: BNSO; FRD; IBA, and STX. All have things going for them and can be considered bargains, in my opinion. However, as always, I would advise any investor to do his or her own research before committing funds to shares of a stock.
In our current Classic Value (CV) portfolio, IPSU, effective Friday, 11/11/05, had a $2.50 per share cash distribution. This lowers the per share cost basis for our IPSU holdings from $13.25 (plus the small per share amount of commission) to $10.75 (plus commission) and increases the gain for the asset to over 27% since it was added to the portfolio in March, 2005.
Overall, Classic Value is still by far the best performing and lowest risk portfolio being tracked here. After an average holding period of about 203 days, its appreciation has been 15.76% (including both open and closed positions). This works out to an annualized gain of 30.10%.
Disclaimer and Disclosure Statement
Neither I nor Investor's Journal will be responsible for losses by anyone who obtained ideas from this site.
This diary is intended for personal interest and general information only. You are advised to do your own research (as well as to consult highly compensated professionals) before spending money on anything.
I know of no reason anyone should take my financial musings seriously. At best I am a dedicated amateur providing a bit of investment-related insight and entertainment, at worst an amusing diversion.
My wife, Fran, and I may at times own shares of some of the assets mentioned here. But neither of us receive any benefit from reference to them, unless you count the mutual misery when we get it wrong, or the opportunity to gloat when we get it right.