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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

I have been doing a little bit of "micro-managing" of my portfolio.  I swapped out my VIVO for RMD hoping to catch a bit more momentum, and now, noting that my Lufkin (LUFK) stock, which I just recently purchased 7/16/08 at a cost basis of $91.10 has been struggling while the rest of the market has been rallying, I chose to sell my shares.

They really hadn't hit a sale point, and we shall need to see if this is a reasonable decision or whether by ignoring my own 'trading rules' I was a bit hasty, lost patience with a great company, and instead jumped on a stock that was heading towards a correction.

However, in light of my own sale of Lufkin (LUFK), I am reducing my rating.

LUFKIN (LUFK) IS RATED A HOLD

What has been driving this market higher recently has been the relative collapse in the price of oil.  However, what is good for the market, may not be good for Lufkin (LUFK), which otherwise has superb fundamentals.  The market paints stocks with a very broad stroke, so that the "baby is frequently thrown out with the bathwater".  My approach to investing is strongly related to earnings growth and fundamental performance reflected in a higher stock price.  When a stock starts trading in a fashion tied to a commodity, whether that commodity be oil, gold, or pork bellies, then all bets are off.

I decided to move on.

As reported:

"A strengthening dollar helped lower the price of a barrel of oil. Light, sweet crude fell $4.91 a barrel to $115.11 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, bringing its decline over the past four weeks to more than $30."

That's right.  $30 drop in four weeks.  Virtually a collapse.

Will oil move higher next week or next month?  Will it trade instead closer to $80/barrel than $140 or is it going to trade at the same price?  Frankly, I don't know.  And I am not sure anyone knows for sure anyhow.  But I want to be investing in some sort of rational fashion.  I am not interested in speculating on stocks based on the movement of commodities. 

I suppose it is also just sour grapes.  After all, I wouldn't be complaining if Lufkin was moving higher today instead of being slightly lower while most of the rest of the market powered ahead.

So earlier today, I sold my 70 shares of Lufkin (LUFK) at $89.76.  These shares, as I have noted, were purchased 7/16/08 at a cost basis of $91.10/share.  Thus I had a loss of $(1.34) or (1.5)% on this purchase. 

Generally I wait for a loss to build to (8)% before initiating a sale after a purchase of a new position.  However, as I have said many times, I reserve the right to sell a stock based on any 'fundamental' issues.  With the oil market correcting, I wanted to step aside.  To make sure that my own holdings would not be overly impacted by a correction in a commodity as significant as oil.

With the sale completed, I turned to the list of top % gainers on the NASDAQ where I found an 'old favorite' of mine, Quality Systems (QSII) on the list.

I reviewed the information on QSII and went ahead and purchased 182 shares at $38.1324/share.  I would like to share with you my thoughts on QSII, why I made this purchase, and why

QUALITY SYSTEMS (QSII) IS RATED A BUY

After purchasing shares at $38.13, the stock did decline slightly and closed at $37.80, up $4.51 or 13.55% on the day.

Quality Systems is involved in assisting healthcare facilities implement electronic medical records.  As explained by the Yahoo Finance "Profile" on QSII, the company

"...engages in the development and marketing of healthcare information systems in the United States. Its system automates various aspects of medical and dental practices, and networks of practices, such as physician hospital organizations and management service organizations, ambulatory care centers, community health centers, and medical and dental schools. The company offers proprietary electronic medical records software and practice management systems under the NextGen3 product name."

If you are not familiar with the market potential to electronic medical records, note what this article had to say: 

"The cost for the packaged electronic medical record (EMR) systems for a large teaching hospital is $1.95 million. The number sold at 126 in 2006 is anticipated to grow to 177 in 2013. The replacement cycle is generally six years for these electronic medical record (EMR) systems packages. Rather than rip and replace, systems tend to be upgraded to new versions.

Electronic medical record markets are very significant. All facilities and all medical practices need to move to automated process that replaces manual handling of written patient records. The top 800 facilities worldwide are anticipated to spend hundreds of millions of dollars each to implement electronic patient records. While a lot of that spending will be on proprietary software, a lot of it will be for packaged software solutions."

There is a very large potential market for electronic medical records (EMR):

"Enterprise electronic medical record (EMR) market forecast analysis indicates that the future of care delivery depends on automation of process. The ability to quickly get a picture of patient condition depends on dashboards prepared by the primary care physician that quickly illustrate any noteworthy conditions that a patient may present.

Markets at $1.8 billion in 2006 are anticipated to reach $3.2 billion by 2013.

Worldwide enterprise electronic medical record (EMR) software markets will grow substantially as vendors are able to leverage the EMR expertise to provide competitive advantage from automation of process using IT infrastructure."

But back to Quality Systems (QSII).

It was the announcement of 1st Quarter 2009 earnings after the close of trading yesterday that drove the stock higher in trading today.  Revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, came in at $55.2 million, up 31% from the $42.0 million in the same quarter the prior year.  Net income worked out to $11.1 million, up 40% over the $7.9 million last year.  Fully diluted earnings per share were $.40, up 38% from the $.29/share last year.

As 'icing on the cake' the company announced a 20% increase in the cash dividend to $.30/share from the prior $.25/share payment. 

QSII beat expectations--analysts had been expecting earnings of $.37/share (they came in at $.40), on revenue of $51.9 million (they came in at $55.2 million).   

Regarding longer-term results, we can review the Morningstar.com "5-Yr Restated" financials on QSII and see that we had a reason why we have liked this stock in the past! 

Revenue growth has been steady from $71 million in 2004 to $187 million in 2008.

Earnings have grown without interruption from $.40/share in 2004 to $1.40/share in 2008.  The company initiated a dividend in 2008 at $1.00/share and now have increased it to a $1.20/share rate.

Outstanding shares are quite stable with 26 million in 2004 increasing less than 10% to 28 million in 2008.  (During this same period sales increased by over 100%, earnings by over 200%---so this share dilution is quite modest in comparison.)

Free cash flow is positive and overall growing from $28 million in 2006 to $41 million in 2008.

The balance sheet is solid.  As reported by Morningstar.com, the company has $59 million in cash and $91 million in other current assets.  This total of $150 million in current assets yields a current ratio over just over 2 when compared to the $70.2 million in current liabilities.  Long-term liabilities are quite modest at only $4 million.

Looking at a few valuation numbers, we can see on the Yahoo "Key Statistics" page on QSII, that the company is a small cap stock with a market capitalization of only $1.04 billion. The trailing p/e is a modest 26.20 with a forward p/e (fye 31-Mar-10) of 18.90.  With the rapid growth in earnings expected, valuation works out to be quite reasonable in terms of the PEG Ratio of .99 (5 yr expected). 

Yahoo reports 27.45 million shares outstanding with 17.70 million that float.  As of 7/10/08, there were 5.77 million shares out short.  Compared to the average trading volume of only 246,872 shares (3 month average), this works out to a short ratio of 31 days!  I personally utilize a '3 day rule' for significance, so this 31 day figure is quite convincing!  With the great results out today, and the stock climbing sharply, this could well represent a short-squeeze for investors. 

In addition to the great financial results, the company now pays over a 3% dividend, and last split its stock 2:1 March 27, 2006.

And a chart?

Looking at the "point & figure" chart on Quality Systems (QSII), we can see that the stock has been trading 'sideways' since February, 2006, when the stock peaked at $42.  The stock has hit that level several times only to pull back to lower levels.  The stock with the current move has broken through resistance once again.  It would be nice seeing this stock trade above $44 to confirm this rally has staying power.

To summarize, I chose to step out of my Lufkin (LUFK) even though I still respect the underlying fundamentals in that stock.  I am concerned about the pressures of a continuing decline in the price of oil.  If oil turns around tomorrow, I shall be demonstrating a public lack of any sense of timing.  In any case, I hate to have any of my holdings to be as tied to a commodity price as I suspect, or fear that this stock has been.

Quality Systems (QSII) beat expectations yesterday and came in with strong revenue growth, earnings growth, and also raised their dividend.  The sharp price appreciation was probably driven in part by the oversized short interest outstanding on this stock.  Meanwhile, QSII demonstrates real quality with steady revenue growth, earnings growth, stable outstanding shares, an increasing dividend, growing free cash flow, and a solid balance sheet.

So this stock isn't a fluke either.

Thanks again for visiting! If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them on this website or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.  If you get a chance, be sure and visit my Covestor Page where you can monitor my trading portfolio performance, my SocialPicks page where my stock picks are also followed, and my Podcast Page where you can listen to an mp3 or two about some of the stocks written up on this blog.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and wish me luck!

Yours in investing,

Bob 

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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

I am absolutely in love with Meridian Bioscience (VIVO) but with the latest quarter mildly disappointing, and the stock lagging while the rest of the market moves higher, I grew impatient today. and started looking for another vehicle for my investment purposes. 

O.K. it isn't exactly consistent with my trading 'rules'.   But you might recall, did basically a similar thing with my IHS stock, that I chose to sell when it appeared to be acting sickly and took the proceeds and jumped into Graham (GHM) which was probably the smartest move of mine this year (except for my short-term trades in Meridian recently...which were WAY outside my usual trading actions!)

With all of that in mind, and thinking maybe I could 'fine-tune' my portfolio a little, I sold my 171 shares of Meridian (VIVO) shares today at  $25.4844 and went to the list of top % gainers today to find out if there was a better place to park the proceeds.

In light of my own sale of Meridian (VIVO), I am reducing my rating on the stock:

MERIDIAN BIOSCIENCE (VIVO) IS RATED A HOLD

Reviewing the 'top % gainers', I noted that ResMed (RMD) was on the list!  This stock has been an 'old favorite' of mine and I have owned it in the past as well.  After a review of the news which consisted of a strong earnings report, I thought it might be wise to switch from one medical technology firm to another that was acting a bit healthier.

I went ahead and purchased 140 shares of ResMed (RMD) at $43.269.  ResMed (RMD) actually closed at $43.09, up $4.84 or 12.65% on the day. 

RESMED (RMD) IS RATED A BUY

Let me review with you some of the facts that led to my decision to buy shares in this company which, as I have written, is an 'old favorite' of mine. 

First of all, that earnings report.

Yesterday, after the close of trading, ResMed (RMD) reported 4th quarter 2008 results.  Revenue for the quarter increased 23% to $235.2 million from the prior year same period.  Net income was $29.6 million, up from $27.7 million last year.  Diluted earnings per share came in at $.38/share, up from $.35/share last year.  Excluding some one-time expenses, this would have been $.40/share.

Sometimes just as important as the actual result and comparisons to prior quarters, is the question of expectations.  In other words, the result was impressive because the 'street' had been expecting earnings of $.39/share.  And ResMed beat expectations with its $.40/share result.  In addition, with its revenue of $235.2 million, it beat expectations of revenue of $220.3 million according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Sleep apnea is big business.

As this same Reuters article reports:

"ResMed and bigger rival Respironics Inc control about 80 percent of the $2 billion U.S. market for sleep breathing devices, a rapidly growing market as people become more aware of the links between sleep disorders and heart disease and diabetes."

In America alone, it is estimated that 18 million American may suffer from obstructive sleep apnea.  And of these, 10 million are undiagnosed.

Other 'facts' from that same article:

• "The condition affects about 4 percent of middle-aged men and 2 percent of middle-aged women.
• Men in general suffer from sleep apnea more often than women.
• Children can also have sleep apnea.
• Sleep apnea in children has been linked to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
• Some studies suggest sleep apnea runs in families.
• Studies have linked sleep apnea to high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
• Up to 50 percent of people with sleep apnea also suffer from high blood pressure.
• People with sleep apnea are three times more likely to be involved in motor vehicle accidents.
• People with sleep apnea sometimes fall asleep unexpectedly during the day, such as while talking on the phone or driving.
• Risk factors for sleep apnea include being overweight and having a large neck.
• Losing even 10 percent of body weight can help reduce the number of times a person with sleep apnea stops breathing during sleep.
• African-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Mexican-Americans may be at increased risk for sleep apnea.
• Smoking and alcohol use increase the risk of sleep apnea.
• Continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, is the most common, noninvasive treatment for moderate to severe sleep apnea."

I share these fact with you both as an investor as well as a patient who also hooks himself up to his own CPAP machine for the last several years!  If you or someone you know snores at night, has a large neck size, is a bit overweight....now we are talking about most of us lol....and if your significant other notes that you sometimes stop breathing when you are snoring....well get yourself down to a sleep lab...it could mean the difference between life and death!

But looking at the fundamentals, besides that little health plug, we can check with Morningstar.com "5-Yr Restated" results.  Here we can see the steady pattern of revenue growth, the slight dip in earnings last year and the subsequent rebound, the modest increase in outstanding shares, the recently improved record of free cash flow, and the very strong balance sheet. 

Like many stocks recently, the stock price has been under pressure.  Let's take a look at the "point & figure" chart on ResMed from StockCharts.com:

You can see how after June, 2007, the stock broke through support levels at the $40 level.  Even with today's strong rise, the stock hardly looks over-extended.  In fact, it has some upward price appreciation to do before it even confirms this bullish move.  I hope I haven't moved in prematurely, but I believe that the financial results are once again on track and that usually, the stock price follows along.  At least that is my strategy.

Sometimes you got to just jump from one wave and pick up another.  Of course, I don't surf.  But in my mind, that's what investing in this fashion is all about.

I will keep you posted.  Meanwhile, wish me luck with this new purchase. 

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.  If you get a chance, be sure and visit my Covestor Page where my actual trading portfolio is monitored and evaluated, my SocialPicks Page where my stock picks from the last almost two years are reviewed, and my Podcast Page where you can download an mp3 or two of me discussing some of the many stocks I write about here on this website.

I hope the rest of the week goes well and finds you in good health, sleeping well at night without any 'apnea', and finds your portfolio rebounding from the recent correction with profits exceeding losses!

Yours in investing,

Bob 

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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

I really hated to do this.  After owning this stock for one whole day (if you don't count the weekend) I am bailing.

I hit my 8% loss limit and sold my shares.  

I know what all of my 'Seeking Alpha' critics will say.  Trading publicly and writing about every one of your trades, including your mistakes, is just something I do around here.  It must be one of my masochistic tendencies :).

But rules are rules, and after a purchase of a position, I sell the shares if they decline 8%.  No matter what.

A few moments ago I sold my 280 shares of comScore (SCOR) at $19.52.  These shares were purchased this past Friday on August 1, 2008, at a cost of $21.505.  Thus, I had a loss of $(1.985) or (9.2)% on this position.

I still like the stock and am selling the stock not because of some fundamental reason that I know about, but rather because the sheer negative price pressure resulted in a loss that triggered my sale.

Thus, I am reducing my rating a notch.

COMSCORE (SCOR) IS RATED A HOLD

Unfortunately, I can already hear the hoots and howls over at SA.  They are well deserved.  

How can I reduce my rating so quickly?  I can only answer, would it be fair to leave my rating as "BUY" when I go and SELL?  

Furthermore, would it be fair to lower my rating to "SELL" just because I have sold my own shares?  Especially when I use my own idiosyncratic approach to buying and selling my shares?

I don't have a good answer for these questions.

I do know that trading in the public's eyes isn't easy.  But I shall be sticking to all of my rules as I try to make heads or tails of investing on my Blog and in my actual trading account.

Wish me luck.  I needed some of that today.

Yours in investing,

Bob

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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

As I wrote up previously, my shares of Graham (GHM) hit a sale point on the upside (even while the market continued to correct!), and being under my maximum of 20 positions, this trade generated a 'permission slip' entitling me to add a new position.

And add a position is what I did!

Like this Richard Seaman photo of surfers, I try to jump off one wave and catch the next!  O.K., I have NEVER, EVER been surfing, but I have watched surfers :).  

So looking for the next 'wave, I headed to my 'wave chart', that is the stocks making the top percentage gainers list.  

Checking the list of top % gainers from the NASDAQ on Friday, I came across comScore (SCOR), a stock that I have not previously reviewed, and liked what I saw.  I purchased 280 shares of comScore (SCOR) at $21.505.  SCOR traded a bit erratically through the day and closed at $20.60, up $1.52 or 7.97% on the day.  I am a bit 'underwater' on this stock, with an unrealized loss of $(.905) or (4.2)% since my purchase earlier the same day!

Let's go over this stock, and let me explain why

COMSCORE (SCOR) IS RATED A BUY

What exactly does this company do?

According to the Yahoo "Profile" on comScore (SCOR), the company

"...provides a digital marketing intelligence platform that helps customers make informed business decisions and implement digital business strategies in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Canada. Its products and solutions offer insights into consumer behavior, including objective, detailed information regarding usage of their online properties and those of their competitors, coupled with information on consumer demographic characteristics, attitudes, lifestyles, and offline behavior."

How about their latest quarter?

It was the release of 2nd quarter 2008 results after the close of trading that drove the stock higher Friday.  Total revenue for the quarter climbed 38% to $28.8 million, from $20.8 million in the prior year same period.  Net income climbed 38% to $1.7 million from $1.24 million the prior year.  Earnings per share came in at $.06/share compared to $-0- the prior year.  Excluding a recent acquisition of M:Metrics, this was $.09/share.

The company beat analysts' expectations of $.07/share on $27.69 million in revenue according to Thomson Reuters.

Topping off the rest of the good news, the company also raised guidance for the upcoming 3rd quarter.

"For the third quarter, comScore expects a profit of 1 to 2 cents per share, or 13 cents to 14 cents per share when excluding items, on revenue of $30.2 million to $30.7 million.

Analysts, whose estimates typically exclude special items, expect a profit of 8 cents per share on $29.5 million in revenue."

However not all of the news was good as the company, while raising 2008 revenue expectations to $119.7 to $120.4 million (ahead of analysts who were expecting $116 million), did lower earnings to $.22 to $.23/share (or $.71 to $.73/share on an adjusted basis, while analysts had been expecting $.36/share.

One analyst reiterated his "Buy" rating--as reported:

"In a note to investors, Jefferies & Co. analyst Youssef H. Squali reiterated his "Buy" rating for comScore and raised his price target by $1 to $28, saying that demand for the company's products is strong despite a difficult economic environment.

"While not cheap, comSore is a compelling value considering its sound fundamentals, leadership position in a growing segment of the Internet and relative resiliency to a weakening economy," he said."

What about longer-term results?

Examining the Morningstar.com "5-Yr Restated" financials on SCOR, we can see the steady picture of revenue growth from $23 million in 2003 to $87 million in 2007 and $95 million in the trailing twelve months (TTM).

This company is just turning profitable with losses diminishing from $(6.96)/share in 2003 to break-even in 2006, $.88/share in 2007 and $.96/share in the TTM.

No dividends are paid and the company aggressively expanded its shares outstanding in 2007 to 18 million from 4 million in 2006.

Free cash flow is positive and growing with $3 million in 2005, $9 million in 2006, $18 million in 2007 and $22 million in the TTM.  The balance sheet is solid with $54.0 million in cash and $76 million in other current assets, which when compared to the $45.5 milllion in in current liabilities yields a current ratio of 2.86.

What about some valuation numbers?

Checking Yahoo "Key Statistics", we can see that this is a small cap stock with a market capitalization of only $589.63 million.  The trailing p/e is a bit rich at 28.07, with a forward p/e (fye 31-Dec-09) estimated at 39.62.  The PEG (5 yr expected) is also richly priced at 2.29.

Utilizing the Fidelity.com eresearch website for some additional valuation numbers, we can see that the Price/Sales (TTM) is reasonable relative to its peers, with SCOR coming in at 6.03 relative to an industry average of 7.53.

When measured by the Return on Equity (TTM), the company also does well relative to its peers coming in at 41.24% vs. the industry average of 28.31%.

Returning to Yahoo, we can see that there are 28.62 million shares outstanding but only 8.31 million that float.  As of 7/10/08, there were 2.28 million shares out short, representing 5.2 trading days of volume (the short ratio).  This is well above my own '3 day rule' for short interest, so we may have actually been seeing a bit of a short squeeze on Friday.

No cash dividends are paid and no stock dividends are reported on Yahoo.

What does the chart look like?

The chart is actually one of the weakest findings on this particular stock.  Reviewing the 'point & figure' chart on comScore (SCOR) from StockCharts.com, we can see how the stock price actually peaked in October, 2007, at $42/share, before dipping all of the way down to $17.5 in March, 2008.  The stock has recently been attempting to move higher, breaking through resistance and and making higher lows, but the upward move is certainly not confirmed yet.

Summary:  What do I think?

Well, I like this stock enough to buy some shares!  Seriously, they are a very small company in a very interesting niche doing research on internet traffic.  They certainly also have to deal with Google, the '800-pound gorilla' in the field of internet traffic. Their price has been very volatile and recently has been under pressure.

However, the latest quarter was strong, beating expectations and the company also raised guidance.  Their Morningstar.com numbers show a certain consistency in improving financial results that I like.  Valuation appears a bit rich, but the company is just turning profitable.  Finally the chart, while recently a bit more optimistic, is far from being over-extended.

Thanks again for visiting my blog!  If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them on the website or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.  If you get a chance, be sure and visit my Covestor Page where you can monitor my actual trading portfolio performance.  In addition, consider dropping by my SocialPicks page where my past stock picks from the last two years are reviewed.  Finally, consider visiting my Podcast Website, where you can download some mp3's of me discussing some of the many stocks reviewed on this website.

Wishing you all a healthy and financially profitable week ahead!

Yours in investing,

Bob

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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

The market had another dismal performance today with the Dow closing at 11,326.32, down (51.70), and the Nasdaq down (14.59) at 2,310.96.  The S&P index dipped (7.07) to 1,260.31.  Oil rebounded from the recent correction and climbed $1.02 on the day to $125.10/barrel.

In spite of this miserable trading environment, my shares in Graham (GHM) enjoyed a nice move higher, closing at $101.97, up $12.97/share or 14.57% on the day.

I acquired my original 105 shares of Graham (GHM) 5/30/08 (just two months ago) at a cost basis of $64.48/share.  Two weeks ago, I sold 15 shares of Graham (1/7th of my holding) at $85.46, representing a gain of $20.98/share or 32.5% since purchase.

The 30% appreciation level is, as you may know, my first 'targeted' appreciation level at which time I sell 1/7th of my holding and use this as a "signal" to be buying a new position.  The next appreciation target is at a 60% appreciation level.

Today, after announcing 1st quarter 2009 results with sales climbing 38.3% to $27.6 million from $20.0 million in the year-earlier same period, and net income up over 100% to $5.7 million or $1.11/diluted share compared to earnings of $2.7 million or $.53/diluted share the year earlier, the stock literally exploded on the upside.  And that in the midst of a nasty market environment.

With the stock climbing to the 60% appreciation level, I sold 1/7th of my now 90 share position, which when 'rounded down' worked out to just 12 shares, at $104.45.  With my cost basis of $64.48, this represented a gain of $39.97/share or 62.0% since purchase.  Even though I personally have sold shares today on what I call 'good news', I am still bullish on this company and

GRAHAM (GHM) IS RATED A BUY

When would I sell shares next?

Going along with my system of selling small portions at targeted appreciation levels, my next sale point would be at a 90% appreciation level from my original purchase price which would work out to 1.90 x $64.48 = $122.51.  On the downside, having sold a portion of Graham (GHM) twice, both at the 30 and 60% appreciation levels, my sale would be at 1/2 of the highest appreciation percentage or at a 30% gain.  (NOT at 1/2 of the highest appreciation PRICE...you can see the difference).  This would work out to 1.3 x $64.48 = $83.82.

One other thing.

My 'portfolio management system' generates buy and hold signals upon the sale of my own holdings.  In other words, when I generate a sale on 'good news' like this Graham transaction, I generate a 'permission slip' to be adding a new position.  When I generate sales on declines, I simply am required to 'sit on my hands' unless I am at the minimum, which for me is 5 positions.

Since I was at 6 positions, not at the maximum (20), this sale on good news generated a 'buy signal' and that nickel started burning a hole in my pocket immediately.  I did find a stock to buy.....but THAT is a discussion for another blog entry entirely!

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog!  If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them right on the website or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com. 

If you can, be sure and visit my Covestor Page where my actual trading portfolio is monitored and evaluated.  Also, consider checking out my SocialPicks page where my stock picks from the last two years are reviewed.  Finally, if you are interested, you might wish to visit my Podcast page where you can download some mp3's of me discussing some of the many topics and stocks reviewed on this website.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Yours in investing,

Bob

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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

If you have been following my ongoing 'saga' with Meridian (VIVO), you will know that last week, after the 17% decline in the stock price from about $29 to $24, I chose to put on my 'contrarian hat' and bought 2000 shares of Meridian (on margin!).  The stock didn't decline further, actually had an upgrade to "long-term buy" and managed to rebound to its current level. (VIVO is trading at $26.00, down $(.37) or (1.4)% on the day as I write (last quote as of 12:27 pm EST).

This kind of "trading" is not my forte.  I work my portfolio as more of a system trader until every once in awhile I get the 'bug', and take a shot at what I believe is an opportunity I should not ignore.  I have been wrong as often as I have been right.  As one reader told me "stick to your system"....and I generally do.

Anyhow, I wanted to update you on the last 500 of the 2000 shares that I sold just a few moments ago (leaving me with my 171 shares of Meridian (VIVO) that I shall continue to manage in my usual fashion).  This morning I sold my last 500 shares in two lots:  250 at $26.531, and 250 at $26.1854. 

Unfortunately, my Fidelity account does what is called "first in first out" accounting,  It really isn't bad like I say because long-term gains are taxed at a lower rate than short-term gains.  So I saved a bunch of money....at least a little :). 

However, I have been using those % numbers on the website to figure my own sale points.  So go figure. 

Needing to figure my sales points is important to my own idiosyncratic trading strategy.  Going back to my entry of June 29, 2008, "Trading Portfolio Update", I summarized my current status on the 171 shares of Meridian (VIVO) that I own:

Meridian Bioscience (VIVO): 171 shares, purchased 4/21/05 at a cost basis of $7.42.  VIVO closed at $27.74 for a gain of $20.32 or 273.9% since purchase.  I have sold portions of VIVO eight times (!) at levels of 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 300, and 360% appreciation targets.  Thus on the downside, if VIVO slips further to the 180% appreciation level or $7.42 x 2.8 = $20.78, then I would sell all of my shares.  On the upside, a partial sale would next be at a 450% appreciatio level or 5.5 x $7.42 = $40.81.

Boy am I glad I had written that one up!

So thanks again for dropping by and visiting.  Trades like the above are quite dangerous and prone to loss.  Especially buying shares of a declining stock.  But getting lucky is probably helpful.

Perhaps I should have held on longer.  I am not interested in getting away from my own investment strategy that has been working.  I just would like to try to dabble in 'trading' and see if I can master any of those skills.  And I know, I should 'stick to my system' and shall try very hard to do that as well!

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.

Yours in investing,

Bob 

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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

I wanted to update you about my holding in Meridian (VIVO), and my 'trade' that I made going against the tide, buying shares in a company that I truly admire, and a company that has been my best performer long-term.

Sitting with a bunch of margin didn't really make me feel great in contrast to my trading strategy of methodically buying and selling portions of my relatively small positions.  It just isn't me!

So with Meridian bouncing higher today, I sold 1000 shares of my 1500 remaining 'trade' position (out of the original 2000 shares).  500 shares were sold at $25.20, and 500 shares were sold at $26.03.  Recall that these shares were JUST purchased at approximately $23.98 (I had several lots purchased to make the 2,000 share position), on 7/17/08, just last Thursday!

I still have 500 shares of this trade remaining.  I shall try to be a bit more patient with the stock which as I write is trading at $25.00, up $1.04 or 4.34% on the day.  It still represents a big 'chunk of change' for me but it is a level I can tolerate for now. 

Trading stocks, as opposed to investing, involves an entirely different set of disciplines, and I do not believe I have those skills....although I continue to work at them....and you have to admit, this last trade has worked out nicely thus far!

Anyhow, I wanted to keep you all posted.  I am planning to get back to my original 171 share position and then manage it as I have been all along, with the cautious and timely transactions that define my 'strategy'.

Regards.

Yours in Investing,

Bob 

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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

This morning, with the market acting weakly once again, and with me sitting on approximately $50,000 of Meridian (VIVO)...I thought I might take a little off the table.  So I sold 500 of my recent 2000 share position at $24.33.  These shares were purchased yesterday at an average price of approximately $23.99, so they did have a small gain.

As I write, VIVO is trading at $24.04, up $.04 on the day, so it appears, for the moment, to be finding support at the $24.00 level.

I shall keep you posted.

I did promise last time NOT to be doing these "trades", but I am trying to learn how to identify these short-term trades successfully.  My record is mixed at best.

Wish me luck.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Yours in investing,

Bob

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 advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

I had a nice letter from Neil this afternoon who had some general questions about my blog.  He wrote:

"I am trying to figure out how the blogs are ranked and who gets the most readers. How is yours? Also it sounds like your an amateur, do you work also?

Neil

I trade some, but find it difficult to beat the overall markets, I think I over trade, ever heard that before......"

Thanks so much for writing Neil.  I also am not sure how 'blogs are ranked'.  I guess that is determined by the particular website doing the ranking.  One of the more reliable blog ranking services is Technorati. 

I found this explanation about how Technorati goes ahead and rates blogs:

"Technorati Authority is the number of blogs linking to a website in the last six months. The higher the number, the more Technorati Authority the blog has.

It is important to note that we measure the number of blogs, rather than the number of links. So, if a blog links to your blog many times, it still only count as +1 toward your authority. Of course, new links mean the +1 will last another 180 days.

Technorati Rank is calculated based on how far you are from the top. The blog with the hightest Technorati Authority is the #1 ranked blog. The smaller your Technorati Rank, the closer you are to the top."

Well that at least is how Technorati does it.

What about some other rankings?  I found this explanation about how Google Blog Search ranks blogs:

"Positive factors affecting blog rank:

• How many RSS subscriptions there are to the blog.
• How often people click on a link to the post in search results.
• How many blogrolls the blog is in.
• How many “high quality” blogrolls the blog is in.
• If the blog offers visitors the chance to tag posts, whether people are tagging them.
• References to the blog by sources other than blogs.
• PageRank.

Negative factors affecting blog rank:

• If new posts appear in short bursts or at predictable intervals.
• If the content of the posts doesn’t match the content of feeds from the posts.
• If the content includes a lot of spam related keywords.
• If a lot of content is duplicated in multiple posts from a blog.
• Whether posts are the same size, or roughly the same size.
• Link distribution of the blog.
• If posts primarily link to one page or site."

Then of course there are other lists of top blogs.  For instance Wikio offers a list of the top 300 blogs.

Here is a list of the Top 100 Personal Finance Blogs by FIRE Finance (a website I am not very familiar with).

I even found a list of "Finance Blogs Readability Ranked" to help determine how "readable" some of the more popular blogs are.

Finishing up with Technorati, this is a list of the top 100 blogs broken down by "number of fans".  I suspect this is the sort of list you were looking for.

You asked about how "popular" my blog is.  At least on this main website, you can find out about my visits on my Sitemeter Page. Checking this evening, the 'counter' relates that I have had 209,921 total visitors and average 126 visitors/day. 

In terms of getting a good review, probably the nicest review I have ever received came fromValueWiki that discussed the Most Popular Finance Blogs.  They commented about my blog:

"Some of you point out that Alexa rankings are occasionally dubious. I agree the system is not perfect (I blogged about Alexa accuracy here), but it’s the least bad system we’ve got. BobsAdviceforStocks made number 1 on my list of Ten Great Finance Blogs Flying Under the Radar but is not included on the list below because the tripod.com domain does not give him an Alexa ranking. Unfair! I’ve included technorati whereever possible. Let me know if you have suggestions on how to make the list more comprehensive (or fair!). Look for an update Tuesday."

They wrote me up in this Ten Great Finance Blogs Flying Under the Radar as their #1 choice.  So that was a great comment from them.  I hope I can live up their review.

And the other part of your question---yes I do have a full-time job not involving investing.  And I do spend far too many hours blogging about investing and stocks!  And yes I am an amateur---if by amateur you mean a non-investment-professional!  

I am sorry to hear about you not keeping up with the market.

You are not alone.

Most mutual funds also underperform the market.

As this Motley Fool article points out:

"Though countless millions of dollars of shareholders' money is spent annually by mutual funds promoting themselves and the notion that they have "expert" stock pickers, the sad truth (or the funny truth, if you're in a laughing mood) is that the vast majority of mutual funds underperform the returns of the stock market (as represented by the S&P 500 index). Because of their excessive annual fees and poor execution, approximately 80% of mutual funds underperform the stock market's returns in a typical year. Over the past couple of years, that number has been going up, as mutual funds have been raising their fees to even higher levels.

The average actively managed stock mutual fund returns approximately 2% less per year to its shareholders than the stock market returns in general. There is currently no reason to believe that this differential will improve, or that actively managed mutual funds as a group can ever outperform the stock market's average returns. For that reason, investors who are going to invest in mutual funds rather than in individual stocks should hold a very, very, very strong bias toward investing in index funds, which invest across the board in a stock market index."

I hope that helps answer your questions and comments Neil! I greatly appreciate the time you took to write and I hope that my answers are helpful.

We all work hard to do a bit better than the market.  Generally, when I follow my disciplined approach (which I didn't do today!), I have been pretty good at least keeping up with the S&P.

If you have any other comments or questions, please feel free to leave them on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.

Yours in investing.

Bob

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 advisers.

Every once in awhile I just break all of my rules.  (And I usually regret it as well!)

I wanted to report on my latest indiscretion.  Meridian (VIVO) a holding of mine reported today.  Latest sales for the third quarter increased 11%.  EPS came in at $.19/share, down from $.22/share, but last year included a tax benefit of $2.4 million.  Taking this out it worked out to $.19/share this year vs. $.16/share a year ago.

Anyhow, the market has absolutely taken this stock apart.

Daring to go into the jaws of this awful negative momentum, I purchased 2,000 shares of VIVO a few moments ago at an average cost of $23.99/share.  As I write, VIVO has already slipped BELOW this price, currently trading at $23.81/share, down $(4.93) or (17.15)% on the day.

I think this is way overdone.

I am trying to think rationally in the face of apparent market madness.

That can be a recipe for failure for me.  But I shall put my contrarian hat on, hold my nose, and keep you posted.

Wish me luck.

And probably wish me better discipline at following my own rules.  I guess that is what defines me as an amateur after all.

And I did it on margin :(.

Bob