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Thursday, April 26, 2007

Can the Cavaliers win the NBA playoffs?

It looks like the Cleveland Cavaliers are running away with the series against the Washington Wizards. If you want me to throw out some fancy statistical analysis, here it is. In the history of the NBA playoffs, 94% of teams with a 2-0 start end up winning that series. So, the odds are in their favor against the Wizards. What do you think their chances are for going all the way?

Please visit Cleveland Cavs for more information!

Do you like Rolex watches?

If you love watches, I must recommend this site: Rolex Timepiece

It is full of interesting videos and information for Rolex watch lovers. It has sections where you can purchase books on Rolex watches and even a marketplace where you can purchase your own Rolex watch.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Check these stocks out!

I like to think I'm pretty in tune with BIG market events and what the market is doing on a daily basis. Regularly, I'll tune in to Jim Cramer's show on CNBC to see what antics are going on and occasionally he has some wise words to share. OK, he's pretty darn good. I trust his judgement. Well, he spoke of the now second-richest man in the world - Carlos Slim Helu - form Mexico. "Slim" inherited a lot of his wealth and owns a 90% stake in Telefonos de Mex (TMX), Mexico's largest telephone company and owns 70% of American Movil (AMX), the largest cell phone company of latin America. That's HUGE! This man has a lock on the industry. I believe Warren Buffett would call that a "durable competitive advantage". You want to invest in monopolies where there is no competition to hurt your sales, revenues, and profits. This is clutch. TMX is up today so far and has had big runs lately. It's P/E multiple is only around 13!!! Also, it's PEG ratio is a minuscule 1.08!! It's received numerous "BUY" ratings by the pro's, but who listens to them anyways. I like the fact that this company is a huge player in developing countries and stands alone with little competition. I think that is the HUGE upside. Plus, it's cheap! It's got room to grow. Now, let's switch gears and talk about American Movil (AMX), the largest cell phone company serving Latin America. It's PE multiple is high by my standards at 23, but it's PEG ratio is 0.52!!! It's a strong buy nonetheless! Yeah, it's pushing it's 52-week high, but this company is not at all done growing. Again, the story is the same here. There is no one to compete against this giant. This sounds more and more like a monopoly of the Latin American countries' phone service. By owning these two stocks, you practically own all of Latin America's communication networks. Plus, let's look at the man who is responsible for their rise to excellence. Mr. "Slim" made $10 BILLION from his investments last year. He obviously knows what he's doing. He makes his money through the market. So should you. I'd take a look at these stocks. They are great picks for the long term, considering the growth and development of developing countries that rely on communication as a part of their growth! Think about it.

Disclaimer: Please consult your professional advisor BEFORE purchasing any stock on any recommendation.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

A Greener America - What does that mean for my portfolio?

The United States Supreme Court ruling on regulating greenhouse gases in an effort to curb global warming is unprecedented news! In a sharply divided judgment, the court ruled Monday that greenhouse gases are pollutants, and so the federal Environmental Protection Agency was wrong to say it had no mandate to regulate such emissions. The decision dealt a new blow to the administration of President George W. Bush, which is steadfast in refusing any limits on US industry or on its gas-guzzling cars, arguing it could hurt the country's economy. So what does this mean for my portfolio? Should I lose my gas/oil stocks? I dunno. That's for you and your financial planner to decide. However, this ruling makes for an interesting situation. For the first time in history, the United States is stepping up to the plate to hedge global warming, which is good for alternative energy stocks! Be on the lookout for FuelTech (FTEK) and Covanta (CVA). FuelTech helps coal power plants save money and emissions by cutting down on furnace residue. Apparently, sludge in these coal furnaces really reduces the efficiency of the burning process and results in higher pollution. The company already has contracts with 30 power stations, and it's growing fast. The stock is currently $25.70. Covanta takes trash and makes it into energy. How smart! However, be careful because this pick is especially speculative. In fact, with both of these stocks, you should watch them for a while. Do some homework. However, I think the concepts are good, especially now that it is going to be cheaper to use alternative fuels. This is only going to fire up the alternative energy industry. Or, if you want to play the sector, which is probably smart at this point because many of these stocks are so speculative (but you know the industry/sector is going to be strong), you should look for an alternative energy index fund. This way you can play the game without researching every single alternative energy stock out there. Until next time, keep your eyes on the alternative energy sector for some big moves.

Please consult your financial advisor before acting on any recommendation.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Coke vs. Pepsi: Better stock pick?

In times of economic turbulence, food staples and soft drinks are always a safe bet. You can always bet that when times are tough, people still drink Coke and eat Fritos. Hmmm...I'm hungry. Ok, back to business. If you had to pick a winning stock in a time of economic hardship, which would you choose? I'd have to go with Coke (KO). After all, Warren Buffet just bought up a bunch of shares in Coke about a year ago. Let's analyze the situation. Coke and Pepsi are on the rise. Both are safe in times of recession. Both are showing moderate growth at this point. Coke is priced around $49 with a P/E of about 23. It's PEG is about 2.5. Coke also pays a 2.7% dividend. Pepsi (PEP) trades at $64 a share with a P/E of 19, however. Pepsi pays a 1.9% dividend. Which one is better? It's hard to tell just with these numbers. You need to look at longer term growth because if we hit a slowdown in the economy, you are looking at years, not months, of slow times. These stocks need to be held for the long haul. You won't get rich quick owning Coke or Pepsi. In terms of long term growth, Coke has the edge. Coke, since the 1980's, has extended itself overseas while Pepsi decided to play hardball at home with the potato chip market. Last year, Coke got 66% of its sales from overseas compared with Pepsi's 37%. Plus, not to mention, they made a slam dunk with Coke Zero, the no sugar alternative to regular Coke. Coke also bought Fuze, a maker of juices and teas infused with vitamins. It's quite popular. Even though, Coke has a higher P/E right now, I still think it is a buy in the future. That's not saying that Pepsi is no good. Pepsi is also a decent choice; however, if I had to pick just one, I'd pick Coke. Besides, how could you go against a Warren Buffet pick?!

Disclaimer: Please consult a professional financial advisor before acting on any recommendations.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Girls Gone Wild Front Man Behind Bars!

It looks like the front man of the Girls-Gone-Wild operation has landed himself behind bars! This time it's for tax evasion.

Joe Francis, 34, was indicted by a grand jury in Reno, Nev., the Department of Justice announced. He is charged with deducting more than $20 million in false business expenses on the 2002 and 2003 corporate income tax returns filed on behalf of his Mantra Films Inc. and Sands Media Inc.

According to the indictment, Francis is charged with using offshore bank accounts to conceal income he earned during 2002 and 2003. The indictment also alleges that Francis transferred more than $15 million from an offshore bank account to a brokerage account in Irvine, Calif., held in the name of Rothwell Limited, a Cayman Islands corporation, that Francis controlled, the government said. If convicted, Francis faces up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000.

A-Rod Settling in FINALLY with the Yankees!

Why does it seem like everyone hates A-rod!? After all of this drama between him and the fine citizens of New York over the past few season, he's finally settling in with his team! If the fans expect him to live up to as much hype as his paychecks, they better lay off! I mean, give the guy some room to breathe! I think finally, he has enough space to take a full inspiration.

A-Rod's six home runs in the Yankees' first seven games is a team record. As Yankees manager Joe Torre said: "With all the thumpers they've had here, that's quite an accomplishment."

Yankees fans are probably wondering if he can keep this up. They want more and more from Rodriguez, and they particularly want it in October. Perhaps Rodriguez should take the exalted demands as a compliment. After all, if he was just an average player, no one would expect perfection from him. He is anything but average, though.

And damned the people that harp on him for those paycheck! Let it go! If someone offered you $250 million dollars to read blogs, would you take it?! That's what I thought! Let's face it, the man can play ball! I've got no problem with him or his checks. At least they don't bounce!

I hope he does better this season than in the past. After all, he is a free agent at the end of the year! I just hope he doesn't get too hot and cause trouble for my Cardinals in the post-season! Much love.

Snoop D-O-Double-Dizzle - N'Trouble for Shizzle!

Snoop Dogg, 35, was formally charged with gun and drug charges on April 10,2007. Police arrested him for possession of marijuana after he parked illegally at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA. After being taken into custody, the rapper posted $35,000 bail and was released.

Snoop, born Cordozar Calvin Broadus, was charged with gun possession by a felon and sale or transportation of marijuana, both felonies.

According to Deputy District Attorney Marian Thompson, Snoop Dogg is scheduled to be arraigned at 10:00 am tomorrow (Apr. 11) in Pasadena Superior Court, Dept. D.

If convicted, Snoop Dogg faces up to four years in state prison.

Breaking News! - Anna Nicole's baby daddy

As brought to my attention, this urgent message (for those who care) is brought to you by E! entertainment. Larry Birkhead is now the father of Anna Nicole's baby - Dannielynn. He is "so excited" and screamed "I told you so!" as the results were released, which revealed a 99.9999% match. Now that this whole mess is over, we can all go back to living normal lives. Lord! What will we do without all this drama! Stay tuned.

Do you own this stock?

I've been looking at adding a financial stock to my "virtual" portfolio. I'm heavily weighted in gold and metals (such as copper), but I'm looking to add a little bank "flava". I think New York Community Bancorp (NYB) would be a wise choice. The stock recently took a dive down to 17.50 (at the time of publication), but it's still a solid play with its high dividend return of 5.6%! Almost all bank stocks pay out a hefty dividend. I love how companies pay YOU to own their stock. They do that usually because they can't grow much more so the only way to reward shareholders is to pay them cash to stay on board. I look for companies that regularly pay out a dividend and if that dividend continues to rise over time. I guess you could call me old fashioned. But if you look at NYB's price over time, their share price is half of what it was in 2004, but it's due for a nice rebound. Until next time, keep your eyes on New York Bancorp.





Disclaimer: I am not an investment professional. Please take what is said here as my opinion as should not be followed as truth. Please consult a financial professional BEFORE you decide to act on such matters.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

End of the Quarter: How did my stock picks fare?

Today was the official end of the quarter of some companies, such as Alcoa who did surprisingly well. Their success was largely fueled by growth of the metals sector from the booming growth in China. So, with this news, I wanted to reflect on my stock picks. I purchased stocks and index funds with $10,000 of virtual money using www.howthemarketworks.com. I tried to divide the stocks fairly evenly at first, but as you know we had a huge crash in February, so that was my opportunity to strike and buy more of my favorite stocks at a discount! Here are my picks:
Freeport-McMoran (Copper and Gold Mining; FCX), Halliburton (Oil; HAL), General Electric (GE), Altria (Cigarettes; MO), AT&T (Telecom; T), IBM (Duh; IBM), and Streettracks Gold Index Fund (NYSE:GLD). My portfolio overall this quarter is up $856.01 (8.6%). Not too shabby for my first quarter EVER of investing. I mainly used a value approach when selecting my stocks. I looked for growing industries with low P/E's (less than 15 preferred), with a solid PEG ratio (Price-Earnings-Growth). I mainly held onto them through thick and thin, watching them for any new developments. I must say, Freeport-McMoran (now the world's largest copper company) has done really well for me. It's my largest holding and it was up 27.2% this quarter for me. My next big winner was AT&T - up 9.4% this quarter. My loser, however, is Altria. There was some bad press recently in the news about price wars and foreign countries. That may have hampered Altria's growth some, but nonetheless, I lost 16.9% this quarter. Ouch! I wish I could take that one back! I was hoping it would rebound. It's such a solid company with such as addictive product, I was almost positive I'd gain some! Instead, I took the loss - like a man! Thank God that was only virtual money. Oh well. Overall, I am very pleased. I will continue to update you as to my progress. Until next time...keep investing wisely!

Monday, April 9, 2007

Rich Dad Review - Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and founder of Cash Flow Technologies, writes a series of profound books. He is an investor, business man, author, and motivational speaker that is a leader in business today. He was so successful in his quest to become rich he was able to retire at 47! In his writings, he constantly compares his real dad (poor dad) to his friend Mike's dad (rich dad), one of the richest men in Hawaii. Mr. Kiyosaki's real dad was highly educated man that believed you go to school, get a job, and save money. Mike's dad was an eighth-grade drop out who amassed a large, multi-million dollar fortune through owning real estate and businesses. Mr. Kiyosaki would say "The rich don't work for their money - it works for them"! Through building businesses and developing assets is how one can get rich the fastest. The assets buy the businesses and vice versa. It is true - the rich buy assets, the poor buy liabilities. Through my studies of Mr. Kiyosaki, I've learned and trained my brain to think like the rich. To think like the rich means to analyze situations from a perspective of a rich person - that is "Will purchasing this asset/liability translate into positive cash flow or "passive income" - money that didn't require active work"? My wife and I invested in his board game "Cashflow 101" and we love it! The lessons learned from that game (such as managing a balance sheet) are priceless. We can now transfer that knowledge over to daily life and use those skills in our "real life" investments. Mr. Kiyosaki mentions that the rich have "teams" working with them to help ensure financial success. I am a physician by training, so I wouldn't rely on my 8+ years of higher education to fix a legal problem or a tax issue. I have no concept of that stuff! So, it's best to "refer" out to others who are more knowledgeable than you in order to ensure you make sound investment moves. Granted, this will cost money, but look at it in terms of an investment in your investment. I highly recommend the following from Cashflow Technologies: 1.) Rich Dad Poor Dad - that is a must read! Start here. Then I'd go with 2.) Cashflow Quadrant, 3.) Rich Dad's Guide to investing, and then I'd purchase the CashFlow board game. Your financial intelligence is what is going to separate you from the poor. If you can develop your financial "IQ", you'll be farther ahead of your peers. Granted, you should read these books, but be prepared. There is no magic answer in these books. There are, however, concepts that you can apply in a variety of situations. These resources are for learning to think differently than you may already think now. So be prepared to open your mind and increase your financial IQ!

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Book Review: Jim Cramer - Watch TV Get Rich

If you watch Jim Cramer's Mad Money on CNBC and you are contemplating reading his latest book, please read this blog. I finished Jim Cramer's new book that I received for Christmas and I must say that I am impressed. Call me a Cramer-holic because a.) I love the show and b.) he gives solid advice. His new book, "Watch TV Get Rich", is a funny play on words considering Jim Cramer is on TV, you watch him, and hopefully you'll become rich by doing so. He says it himself in this book that watching his show alone doesn't give you the whole story. You must read the book. Jim Cramer comes to the rescue for small, individual investors. He gives good, sound investment strategies that anyone can use with a little practice and understanding. He's already made the mistakes and he tells about them in this book so you don't have to experience that agony!

Investing and making money in this global economy is all about psychology. Psychology drives business. Emotions fuel people to buy Ferrari's, big homes, and Rolex watches. It's what makes us "feel good" that drives our actions. Cramer likes to capitalize on people's emotional reactions - and make some Mad Money! In his new book, he outlines specific things you can look for when you analyze stocks. He discusses P/E ratios, Price-earnings-Growth ratios, etc. He covers when to buy and more importantly WHEN TO SELL! This book is so wonderful that it is written in an easy-to-understand format. I've read many investment books over the last few months and I must say that this book is one of the easiest reads out there. For crying out loud, I read Ben Graham's book "The Intelligent Investor" and it was like pulling teeth! Cramer is fun, light and most importantly is concerned with your learning in mind. Let's face it, as we drudge along these next 5, 10, 15 years, it's going to be more and more important for people to take their financial matters into their own hands (or let someone else do it!) because we can't rely on pensions and social security like our ancestors. So, to sum up my book review on Jim Cramer's "Watch TV get Rich", I'd say it's a must buy (I'm not getting any kick back from this BTW). I've read it. I've enjoyed it. And most of all, I learned more from that one book than the six others I read in the past couple months. So, please, enjoy it! Happy Investing!

Saturday, April 7, 2007

The Real Deal...


Am I the "Real Deal"? Is it this website? I know. It's pretty damn cool and it's got a long way to go. I'd like to add some cool pics and maybe some music. I'd like to hook some of that up real soon. Well, let me introduce myself. My name is Marc. This is my newest, latest and greatest blog. I hope you like it and will come back often to visit. I'm going to talk about a variety of issues. This is sort of a "General" blog. A place where you can come and express yourself - just like I'm doing. Or, set up a blog of your own and we can swap links and get connected that way! Anyways, I'd like to kick off this blog with the new TLC show that has yet to debut called "the Real Deal". It stars Richard Davis (the man in the picture on the right) and his crew of cronies in South Carolina that flip houses. He is essentially a real-estate mogul. My wife and I fell in love with him crew on the A&E show "Flip this house". Apparently, they had a legal falling out, Davis and A&E, so now he's moved on to TLC with their brand new show. It looks to be a very entertaining (and educational) show about flipping houses. Real Estate is something you to start thinking about again, especially in you're looking to make some serious financial gains. I know. It's risky. You need to know what the hell you are doing. But the bottom line is this - we are now coming into a "valley" in this housing market. We are coming closer and closer to rock bottom. Is it over? I don't know! Nobody does. But what I do know is that after the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market, banks are holding onto a bunch of foreclosed houses that they want to get rid of - on the cheap! So, keep your eyes peeled and be ready to strike (or learn to strike) really soon because I predict we have another year or so of this housing slump and then things will really take off. I just wanted to throw that out there. This show is critical for your viewing, especially you enterprising readers out there that are looking to make some nice change. House flipping is both an art and a science. There is a tremendous amount of planning, organization, paperwork, and elbow grease that goes into flipping homes - and not losing your ass. I suggest you educate yourself so you'll be in a prime position to buy when "YOU" want to. Foreclosed homes and auctions are great places to start. Keep in mind the old Warren Buffett adage of "I only invest in what I know" or if you're a TLC (the band) fan "Don't go chasin' waterfalls...please stick to the rivers and lakes that you're used to". Basically, invest in your own backyard. Only YOU are familiar with home prices in your area enough to recognize a good deal when you see one. Pick up a few books. Educate yourself. You have time but act before it's too late. Anyways, this new show looks to be very entertaining as well as educational. These guys are awesome and they make money hand-over-fist! That's always nice to see in my opinion.