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.
If you are a regular visitor to this website, you will probably understand what I do with this weekend reviews: looking back at stocks I have picked with a trailing 60 week period. However, if you are new, let me explain that I like to discuss stocks of possible interest on this blog, occasionally pick from these stocks to add to my own portfolio, and like to review past selections to see how they actually turned out a year-or-so later.
My review assumes a "buy and hold" strategy which is not what I actually do or recommend in my own portfolio. In fact I recommend selling losing stocks quickly and completely and selling my gaining stocks partially and slowly.
Anyhow, last weekend I reviewed the week of January 3, 2005, and this week, I shall take a look at picks from the week of January 10, 2005.
On January 10, 2005, I posted Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) on Stock Picks Bob's Advice at a price of $32.52. PPC closed at $21.67 on 3/31/06 for a loss of $(10.85) or (33.4)%.
On January 23, 2006, Pilgrim's Pride announced 1st quarter 2006 results. Sales for the quarter dropped 2% to $1.34 billion from $1.37 billion last year. Earnings were down sharply to $25.7 million, from $48.5 million or $.39/share down from $.73/share last year.
On January 11, 2005, I posted Plantronics (PLT) on Stock Picks Bob's Advice when it was trading at $40.05. PLT closed at $35.43 on 3/31/06 for a loss of $(4.62) or (11.5)%.On January 24, 2006, Plantronics reported 3rd quarter 2006 results. Revenue for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, climbed nicely to $222 million from $150 million the prior year. However, net income dropped to $22 million or $.42/share from $24 million or $.48/share the prior year.
On January 13, 2005, I posted Ventana Medical Systems (VMSI) on Stock Picks Bob's Advice when it was trading at $64.36. VMSI had a 2:1 stock split on 3/15/05, giving me an effective pick price of $32.18. VMSI closed at $41.77 on 3/31/06 for a gain of $9.59 or 29.8%.
On February 10, 2006, Ventana reported 4th quarter 2005 results. For the quarter ended December 31, 2005, sales rose 13% to $54.3 million from $48.0 million the prior year. GAAP Net Income was also up nicely at $10.6 million or $.29/diluted share, up from $8.6 million or $.24/diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2004.
On January 14, 2005 I posted Ask Jeeves (ASKJ) on Stock Picks Bob's Advice when the stock was trading at $29.59. On March 21, 2005, the acquisition of Ask Jeeves by InterActive Corp (IACI) was reported. ASKJ shareholders received 1.2668 shares of IACI for each share of Ask Jeeves they owned. Interactive closed at $29.60 on 3/31/06. Thus, the current value of these 1.2668 shares = $37.50. Thus, the shares, based on a pick price of $29.59, have appreciated $7.91 or 26.7%.
Finally, on January 14, 2005, I selected Scientific Games (SGMS) for Stock Picks Bob's Advice at a price of $25.87. SGMS closed at $35.13 on 3/31/06, for a gain of $9.26 or 35.8%.On February 28, 2006, Scientific Games reported 4th quarter 2005 resultsRevenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2005, rose 11% to $202.9 million from $182.6 million the prior year same period. Net income was $10.4 million or $.11/diluted share, up from $4.4 million or $.05/diluted share in the prior year same period. This was a solid report imho.So how did I do with these five stocks?
Two stocks declined and three gained. The average performance of these five was a gain of 9.48%.
Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting! If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them in the blog or email me at bobsdviceforstocks@lycos.com.
Bob