Festival of Stocks #2
Welcome to the second Festival of Stocks. The Festival of Stocks is a weekly blog carnival dedicated to highlighting the best recent posts on stock market related topics.
I am proud to present this week’s best entries to the Festival of Stocks. The articles are listed by category. The stock tickers are linked to Yahoo Finance. I have included my post “On Nintendo” in this week’s festival; it is a follow-up to an earlier post discussing Sony (SNE) entitled “On the PlayStation 3 Delay“.
Stock Analysis
Lifetime Brands – In Your Kitchen, Should They Be in Your Portfolio? By Inelegant Investor
The Inelegant Investor takes a look at Lifetime Brands (LCUT), a fast-growing supplier of cutting boards, bakeware, pantryware, tabletops, and cutlery. At fourteen times 2006 earnings, he likes what he sees.
Stocks: LCUT
The Buckle (BKE) at $35.10 By Dah Hui Lau
Dah Hui Lau explores the investment potential of The Buckle (BKE), a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories with a focus on denim. After asking and answering eight important questions (such as “is management shareholder oriented?”), he concludes shares of this undervalued retailer provide an opportunity for long-term value investors.
Stocks: BKE
Costco, At What COST? By SINLetter Blog
Asif Suria always knew Costco (COST) was a good business. However, the stock had always looked a little overpriced. Three weeks ago, Costco’s stock fell when the company warned it expects lower fourth quarter earnings. So, is now the time to start a position in Costco?
Stocks: COST
Quietly Marvelous (MVL) By One Guy’s Investments
Marvel Entertainment (MVL), home of the X-Men and other lucrative comic book franchises, had a terrific month in the stock market. But, the real test will come in 2007 and 2008. In ’07, the company will release three possible hits. In ’08, Marvel’s first self-produced film, Iron Man, will arrive in theaters.
Stocks: MVL
Dell, Not Yet? By Vitaliy’s Contrarian Edge
Shares of Dell (DELL) now trade at multiples low enough to attract value investors. But, are Dell’s problems truly short-term in nature? Or, do serious long-term threats lurk below the surface?
Stocks: DELL
Tom Joad’s Truck By Jeff Matthews Is Not Making This Up
As a Dollar General (DG) bull reiterates her buy, Jeff Matthews goes on an unscientific tour of some of the company’s stores in Mississippi and Tennessee. He finds nothing but “the same old stuff in the same old displays”.
Stocks: DG
Reader Question Regarding Unifi By Fat Pitch Financials
A reader asks George what he thinks of Unifi (UFI), “a textile company selling at approximately 0.36 times book.” George smells a cigar butt – and prefers to leave the dirty business of trying to get that last puff to someone else.
Stocks: UFI
Overstock.com By Value Investing, and a Few Cigar Butts
Mike takes a long look at online closeout retailer Overstock.com (OSTK). At a price-to-sales ratio of approximately 0.5, he likes what he sees. For the most part, Mike eschews the Byrne controversy, choosing instead to focus on the risks and catalysts associated with owning shares of OSTK.
Stocks: OSTK
On Nintendo By Gannon On Investing
I discuss Nintendo (NTDOY). The stock has climbed quite a bit over the past year, especially as the good press surrounding the company’s soon to be released console, the Wii, has mounted. I conclude Nintendo is a good business selling at something close to a fair price.
Stocks: NTDOY
Commentary
This is No Way to Avoid Chapter 11 By Game Finance
Game Finance dissects a press release from Atari (ATAR) announcing SilverFall, a role-playing game that mixes technology and magic – half a decade after Troika’s Arcanum. He finds the press release long on platitudes and short on profit generating potential.
Stocks: ATAR
Toyota Wise to Slow Development, Improve Quality By One Investor’s View
Bill Allen likes Toyota’s decision to face its recent quality concern issues head on. He believes Toyota (TM) is one of the world’s best companies and “should be considered a core holding in any portfolio”.
Stocks: TM
Media Holdings Looking Good By Controlled Greed
John Bethel reviews a CNNMoney.com article discussing two media stocks he owns: Comcast (CMCSK) and CBS (CBS). John thinks “Comcast is doing pretty darn good”, though he reminds readers that “we’re still in the early innings with ALL these holdings”.
Stocks: CMCSK, CBS, MEG
Filings
Dell’s Ordeals By The AAO Weblog
Jack Ciesielski looks at last week’s announcement from Dell (DELL) that it will delay the filing of its 10-Q due to an informal SEC investigation. He then asks, “What can we surmise?”. Apparently, quite a bit.
Stocks: DELL
More Than One Way to Skin a Company By Footnoted.org
Michelle Leder explores the many ways insiders at Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) have found to “plunder the company coffers”. After reading a few quotes pulled from the company’s most recent proxy, it’s hard not to agree with Michelle when she writes that it “sounds like Nu Skin shareholders are getting skinned alive”.
Stocks: NUS
Investing
Mutual Fund Performance and Portfolio Manager Ownership By Value Discipline
Rick explores the relationship between fund performance and portfolio manager ownership. While the logic of “eating one’s own cooking” is obvious to everyone, the difference in performance between the cooks who do and the cooks who don’t may surprise you.
Stocks: GPS
Technical Analysis and The Magic Formula By Bill Rempel
Bill suggests adding a technical screen to Joel Greenblatt’s Magic Formula to avoid catching peaking cyclicals. The importance of such an additional screen is obvious: “Buying a value stock is betting that the market has over-punished a good company. If you buy one of these peakers, you’re really betting that everyone else is wrong about the peak, which is not quite the same bet and not quite the same thing.”
Reading NASDAQ Ticker Symbols By Blueprint For Financial Prosperity
Blueprint For Financial Prosperity presents a handy little list of possible fifth letters in NASDAQ ticker symbols and their respective meanings. All NASDAQ stocks are identified by a unique four letter code. If there is a fifth letter, it denotes some information regarding the issue or the issuer (e.g., the letter “K” denotes the issue is a non-voting share, the letter “E” denotes the issuer is delinquent in required SEC filings).
That’s all for this week’s Festival of Stocks. Next Monday’s Festival will be hosted by Value Investing, and a Few Cigar Butts. You can start sending in your submissions now so Mike will have plenty of time to read your entries. Use this form to send your best recent stock market related articles for Festival of Stocks #3.
Since this is only the second edition of the Festival of Stocks, I’d like to encourage everyone to do what they can to spread the word about the Festival. Please post a link to the Festival on your blog, email it to friends, and bookmark it in the top social bookmarking sites.
There’s no doubt some people missed last week’s excellent inaugural edition at Fat Pitch Financials. Hopefully, everyone who is interested in finding the week’s best stock market related blog posts will know about the Festival, and so be able to join us next Monday at Value Investing, and a Few Cigar Butts.
Finally, let me thank everyone who contributed to this week’s Festival of Stocks – you did all the real work.