Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Good to be back
It's nice to be back home. As usual, my visit to Asia was an interesting one. This time I spent quite a bit of time in China. The locals like to say that China's national bird is the crane. And indeed that's true: everywhere I looked, a new office building, shopping center, or condominium was being constructed.
As far as my portfolio is concerned, my performance in November was not particularly stellar. Although my portfolio gained $16,856 (3 percent), I underperformed all the major indices, especially the triumphant Nasdaq, which gained 5.3 percent for the month (hats off to Cramer for predicting this tech rally).
Like I had anticipated, most of the transactions that I made were on the sell-side through the use of pre-set limit orders. I sold all my shares of EEI, IFTH.OB, SMTX, OVTI, MNTA, FNLY, and most of my shares of COBR. On the buy side, I started a new 5000 share position in SMTX after the stock got clobbered (gratuitously in my view) following its earnings report. I now have a very large cash position (almost $100,000) so I will be looking to deploy some of that money over the next few weeks.
As far as my portfolio is concerned, my performance in November was not particularly stellar. Although my portfolio gained $16,856 (3 percent), I underperformed all the major indices, especially the triumphant Nasdaq, which gained 5.3 percent for the month (hats off to Cramer for predicting this tech rally).
Like I had anticipated, most of the transactions that I made were on the sell-side through the use of pre-set limit orders. I sold all my shares of EEI, IFTH.OB, SMTX, OVTI, MNTA, FNLY, and most of my shares of COBR. On the buy side, I started a new 5000 share position in SMTX after the stock got clobbered (gratuitously in my view) following its earnings report. I now have a very large cash position (almost $100,000) so I will be looking to deploy some of that money over the next few weeks.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
The bulls take control
It looks like the battle between bulls and bears that persisted for most of October has been settled. The bulls have the bears against the ropes and are one punch away from a knockout.
While my portfolio continues to head upwards (up $5,100 yesterday and up $800 today), I've been lagging the indices and barring a momentous day tomorrow, it looks like I will underperform the market for the week. The fact that I've had to deal with two problem positions (KTCC and FCPO) hasn't helped matters. I sold two-thirds of the former and all the latter.
PCTI had a strong day today, hitting a 52 week high. Usually I would take some money off the table in a situation like this, but I suspect that someone knows something good and is loading the truck. For better or for worse, PCTEL appears to be a fairly litigious company; it seems that they have sued or are in the process of suing half the NASDAQ 100. An old rumour has it that the latest case that has been dragging through the courts for some time could yield a huge windfall, about $400 million. Obviously, that's a huge payoff for a company with a market cap of only $200 million.
While my portfolio continues to head upwards (up $5,100 yesterday and up $800 today), I've been lagging the indices and barring a momentous day tomorrow, it looks like I will underperform the market for the week. The fact that I've had to deal with two problem positions (KTCC and FCPO) hasn't helped matters. I sold two-thirds of the former and all the latter.
PCTI had a strong day today, hitting a 52 week high. Usually I would take some money off the table in a situation like this, but I suspect that someone knows something good and is loading the truck. For better or for worse, PCTEL appears to be a fairly litigious company; it seems that they have sued or are in the process of suing half the NASDAQ 100. An old rumour has it that the latest case that has been dragging through the courts for some time could yield a huge windfall, about $400 million. Obviously, that's a huge payoff for a company with a market cap of only $200 million.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
SNL Wall Street Humour
November is off to an inauspicious start: down $2,100 today. And judging from the poor afterhours behavior of CHK and KTCC, it looks like I'll be behind the 8 ball tomorrow. Oh well.
Apparently I am not alone in thinking that those Morgan Stanley commercials are really creepy. Saturaday Night Live did a great spoof of their ad a few weeks ago. It's almost as funny as the one they did about Wall Street brokers and their not so honest stock recommendations.
Apparently I am not alone in thinking that those Morgan Stanley commercials are really creepy. Saturaday Night Live did a great spoof of their ad a few weeks ago. It's almost as funny as the one they did about Wall Street brokers and their not so honest stock recommendations.
