"Trading Portfolio Update" via "Jubak's Refugee Site" on MSN
Hello Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice. As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

One of the things I firmly believe in around here is transparency. I want you to know what I own, why I own it, when I sell it, etc. I don't want to talk about any stocks with you thinking that maybe I own these shares or not. In addition, the value of this blog is to share with you the process of investing, and see how it all works out. Hopefully, I shall inspire others to invest, to think about stocks, and maybe even to share their experiences for all of us to learn from.

One other site that I have been participating in on the internet is the MSN financial website where there are lots of bulletin boards where people share ideas. I have been encouraging people over there to visit my blog (I love to get visitors), and to enter into the discussion here. As part of that process, I have been sharing my portfolio status with the readers. Tonight, I wrote this up on the Jubak Refugee Website on MSN. Since some of you might wonder about how I am doing, and since I have not been updating my trading portfolio page, here is what I wrote tonight:

Hello Jubak Refugee Friends!

One of the things I have been posting here is an update on my trading portfolio, based on my strategy in my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice. I posted last on October 1, 2005, and now, November 20, 2005, being 7 weeks later, I wanted to give you an update.

I am presently down to 19 positions (with my maximum being 25 positions in my trading portfolio).

On 10/12/05, I withdrew $5,000 cash from my account, adding to my margin to make a downpayment on a new (used) vehicle :). In addition, I have started making $550 payments/month to pay off the car out of this account, and only add $200/month as a contribution from my checking. So this is a bit of a drag on the account. My last monthly margin payment on the account on 10/20/05 was $470.59, so this is another drag on the account performance. I want to share this "laundry" with you so that you can see that my performance, even with all of this, isn't that bad at all!

As of 11/19/05, the account net worth was $78,393.35. I have, in spite of all the things mentioned in the above paragraph, been paying down margin, which is now down to $40,127.16. On 10/1/05, the margin was $70,266.83, so this has really shrunk with the sale of some positions. The equity position is now up to 66.14%. Total holdings are also down at $118,520.51.

As of 11/20/05, unrealized gains stand at $42,870.23. Realized gains stand at $6,174.91 short-term, and $15,347.02 long-term, net, for total net gains for 2005 as of this date of $21,521.93. I have now paid a total of $4,180.36 in margin interest payments this year as well.

Current positions (# shares) in my trading portfolio: AFFX (120), AMHC (128), CDIS (113), COH (102), COO (45), CYTC (225), GCO (200), HIBB (111), JOSB (180), KYPH (150), PRGS (240), QSII (58), RMD (180), SBUX (70), SRX (320), STJ (180), SYD (113), VIVO (253), VMSI (225).

Since 10/1/05, the following transactions have occurred: On 10/3/05, I sold 84 shares of VIVO, and on the same day received 90 shares of RMD as part of a stock distribution. Also on 10/3/05, I sold 19 shares of QSII. On 10/6/05, I sold 120 shares of DELL, and on 10/13/05, I sold 400 shares of ZQK. On 10/20/05, I sold 113 shares of MNT, and on 10/20/05 I sold 160 shares of GI. On 10/24/05, I received 35 shares of SBUX in a stock distribution, and on 10/25/05, I sold 200 shares of ADS. I sold my 230 shares of AMMD on 10/28/05.

You can see that with the market correction, I have reduced my margin balance, and thus my leverage and exposure to the market. The stocks are recovering and a couple of my stocks (QSII and KYPH) in particular are near sale points on gains and thus may be entitling me to add a new position or two. Time will tell.

Please come by and visit my blog and let me know what you think! In the interim, I shall continue to try to provide updates monthly or so on what has been going on in my trading portfolio and the financial results. I believe if you go back a year ago, right here on this site, on 10/16/04, I was reporting a trading account net worth of $47,933.49. Thus, the market has been kind to me the past twelve months!

Bob

I hope that this information is helpful to you too. Unfortunately, I have real expenses and financial needs, and have been drawing down money from my trading account for various purposes (like buying a car :) ). But this gives you an update on all of my holdings, my current value and net gains and losses. The results are pretty satisfying from my perspective :).

Thanks so much for visiting again. I hope you all have a nice week trading and come and visit here often. If you have any particular questions, or comments, please feel free to leave them on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.

Bob