10/31/10 AEP, CCE, CTAS, EPB, HEP, LINE, MOLX, NS, PH, PRE, RCI, STRA

AEP - American Electric Power
CCE - Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc
CTAS - Cintas Corporation
EPB - El Paso Pipeline Partners, LLC
HEP - Holly Energy Partners, LP
LINE - Linn Energy, LLC
MOLX - Molex Incorporated
NS - Nustar Energy Lp
PH - Parker-Hanniforn Corp
PRE - PartnerRe Ltd
RCI - Rogers Communications, Inc
STRA - Strayer Education, Inc





AEP - American Electric Power - There is nothing particularly interesting with this stock base on our model. It is ok.


CCE - Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc - OK, so this stock isn't exciting, nut overall the profile is attractive. Low RVI, the Dec option captures the dividend.


CTAS - Cintas Corporation - Again nothing exciting. Either date gets the dividend and the RVI's are ok.


EPB - El Paso Pipeline Partners, LLC - RVI's are high and obviously this stock is trading rich to the last year. Ex-date was last Friday so if you don't own the stock don't plan on getting paid.


HEP - Holly Energy Partners, LP - Near date Day's earnings are great. The next date is February.



LINE - Linn Energy, LLC - P/E, what P/E? RVI's are high as they near dated Day's earning.


MOLX - Molex Incorporated - Boring?


NS - Nustar Energy Lp - Check out this profile. The far dated expiration is March! The days earning's look pretty good too....


PH - Parker-Hanniforn Corp - High RVI's and both earn the dividend.


PRE - PartnerRe Ltd - Near date looks good and the RVI's are rich but not extreme.


RCI - Rogers Communications, Inc - Boring? Heck yah but it is what we like..... The dividend pays at both near and far dates.

STRA - Strayer Education, Inc - Based on our model this stock is a screaming buy. Low P/E, high dividend, high SSR and Days earning. Did I mention the low RVI?


*Note: the tables shown are embedded .jpg files. This means that you can: 1) double left click them with your mouse to enlarge them, or 2) right click them with your mouse and choose to open them in a new window or tab, print, save, etc.
As with everything we post, we may or may not have the stock and/or strategy in place in any one of our portfolios or may add it at any time. We do not make any buy or sell recommendations. We provide basic analytical research, some short commentary of the results and encourage you to do your own thorough due diligence prior to any purchase or sale.

10/27/10 ABT, CVX, JNJ, MCD, PG & SYY

ABT - Abbott Laboratories
CVX - Chevron Corp
JNJH - Johnson & Johnson
MCD - McDonald's Corp
PG - The Procter & Gamble Company
SYY - Sysco

ABT - Abbott Laboratories - Not too much to get excited about, but it works. Mid range on RVI's..... Thank you JNJ for pressuring the sector lower and creating opportunity for us!

CVX - Chevron Corp - The whole sector went CRASH - but RVI's are now in the 90's and the stock is trading at its 52 week highs. Days earnings and SSR's look good. Either srtategy is in line for the dividend.

JNJ - Johnson & Johnson - Not too much to get excited about, but it works. Upper mid range on RVI's..... Keep in mind that this is a pharma and they too have had a rough few months, brought on by Tylenol.

MCD - McDonald's Corp - The dividend is earned at the far date and that is where the models says to invest. RVI's are at the top of the range. Afterall, this company knows how to operate.


PG - The Procter & Gamble Company - Not too much to get excited about, but it works. Upper mid range on RVI's.....


SYY- Sysco Corporation - Not too much to get excited about, but it works. Mid range on RVI's.....






*Note: the tables shown are embedded .jpg files. This means that you can: 1) double left click them with your mouse to enlarge them, or 2) right click them with your mouse and choose to open them in a new window or tab, print, save, etc.
As with everything we post, we may or may not have the stock and/or strategy in place in any one of our portfolios or may add it at any time. We do not make any buy or sell recommendations. We provide basic analytical research, some short commentary of the results and encourage you to do your own thorough due diligence prior to any purchase or sale.

10/23/10 ABB, BA , COL, COP, ETN, KFT, QCOM, R, RAI, RBC, TYC, UTX

10/23/10 ABB, BA , COL, COP, ETN, KFT, QCOM, R, RAI, RBC, TYC, UTX

ABB - ABB Ltd
BA- Boeing Company
COL - Rockwell Collins Inc.
ETN - Eaton Corporation
KFT - Kraft Foods Inc.
QCOM - Qualcomm Inc
R - Ryder Systems, Inc.
RAI - Reynolds American Inc.
RBC - Regal-Beloit Corporation
TYC- Tyco International Ltd.
UTX - United Technologies Corp



ABB - ABB Ltd - Note the different strike prices at the near and far date. SSR are good near and far date, but the days earnings at the near date are 0.10% vs 0.08% at the far date. RVI's are high.


BA- Boeing Company - The P/E is embarrassingly high but we included is based on the forward P/E. A dividend is earned at either date. SSR are good near and far date, but the days earnings at the near date are 0.08% vs 0.06% at the far date. RVI's are a little high.


COL - Rockwell Collins Inc. - A dividend is earned at either date, note the far date is in January. SSR are good far date, but the days earnings at the near date are 0.07% vs 0.04% at the far date. RVI's are ok.


ETN - Eaton Corporation - A dividend is earned at either date. SSR are ok, but the days earnings at the near date are 0.07% vs 0.06% at the far date. RVI's are HIGH.


KFT - Kraft Foods Inc. - Bedrock stock with an good profile. What is not to like?

QCOM - Qualcomm Inc - Only the far gets the dividend and the P/E's are creeping up. However, the SSR's are good either way and the near date Days earnings at 0.11% are the 2nd highest of the batch of stocks presented today. RVI's are ok as well.

R - Ryder Systems, Inc. - The P/E is 2nd highest of today's group, while the forward P/E is in range. We have previously written about the high/low P/E issue and in this end this is a personal choice as to how to handle a high/low P/E situation. We can only present and offer advice, the decision is yours. The dividend is earned at either date. Ryder systems, R is tops in today's group in Days earning of 0.15% at the near date. The RVI's are toward the rich end.

RAI - Reynolds American Inc. - A Bedrock stock with an ok profile.

RBC - Regal-Beloit Corporation - This stock has been a long time favorite of ours as it has worked well with our strategy. We like their business and operation. Note the calender spread on the options. Nothing trading between November and February at this point. The SSR's are very good as are Days earning. The near date looks much better than the far date most likely because the days spread between the two. RVI's are good as is P/E and all the other stuff we like.


TYC- Tyco International Ltd. - Another stock we have liked for a long time. Note the two different strike prices. SSR's are good and the near date Day's earning at 0.09% is high. P/E's are good and both near and far dates earn the dividend.


UTX - United Technologies Corp - Except for the high RVI's, what's not to like?


A number of the stocks we looked at today had identical profiles when selling just "in the money calls" and the next higher strike calls that are "out of the money call". We tried to chose the "in the money calls" when the RVI's were high and the "out of the money calls" when the RVI's were not high.

We have previously written on using measures like RVI's and investment associated biases. Clearly, we can justify selling "out the money calls" on high RVI stocks if the fundamental analysis indicated a price per share that should be higher. As short term tactical trades go, we opt for the highest near term return. As longer term strategies go, we would opt for the highest long term strategy when selling calls as we expect the underlying price to increase, placing our focus on the Return if called numbers. Again, these are judgment calls and in this forum we are only present analysis and placing focus on the highest near return.



*Note: the tables shown are embedded .jpg files. This means that you can: 1) double left click them with your mouse to enlarge them, or 2) right click them with your mouse and choose to open them in a new window or tab, print, save, etc.
As with everything we post, we may or may not have the stock and/or strategy in place in any one of our portfolios or may add it at any time. We do not make any buy or sell recommendations. We provide basic analytical research, some short commentary of the results and encourage you to do your own thorough due diligence prior to any purchase or sale.

10/19/10 Dancing with the Stars / Investing

10/19/10 Dancing with the Stars / Investing
How is Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) like investing?
Read on as we compare the work of pros to amateurs and confirm that in many dancing and investing at a higher level are very similar. It is ok not to be a pro and amateurs can excel.

DWTS and Investing

For everyone who takes himself or herself too serious stop reading NOW. For everyone else read on……


If you have never tried Ball Room Dancing, please do so. It took me nearly 2 decades to convince my significant other to take up proper dancing. It was well worth the effort. Albeit we met at a very young age, Ball Room Dancing is in many ways analogous to investing. The hit television show Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) epitomizes investing in the form of reality TV.

For everyone who thinks it looks easy, ask your self:
How is it each team has one professional and one amateur but it takes several weeks to choose a winner?
If it is so easy, why do star athletes fall to injury?
Why do the pros fail while amateurs succeed?
Does popularity keep couples in the hunt while more talented less popular couples get the boot?
A couple without distinction can come from nowhere and defeat a couple with star quality?
How can the likes of Donny Osmond and Kelly Osborn defeat sport legends Michael Irvin, Chuck Liddell, Natalie Coughlin & Louie Vito?

To learn Ball Room Dancing/investing you need to learn the methods.
To be good at Ball Room Dancing/Investing you need practice.
Practice makes a better dancer/investor.
Competition/results comparisons show a dancers/investors skill level.
It takes years of training/investing to be proficient.
It is best to be good at a style and knowledgeable in other methods as well to succeed.
Many factors influence your success, you cannot control all of them.
Being cautious and understanding your craft leads to success.

Dancing/investing require knowledge, skill and experience. You do not need experience to try it, just a winning attitude, patience and strong interest. The best and smartest are not always the winners, sometimes the lucky win. However, who defines winning is important. Specifying goals and guidelines (aka: Rules) is important. We saw how our hero astronaut did at 80+ years old, which did not seem fair, it needed classifications that did not apply or rather the wrong asset class was used inappropriately. Make sure you understand what you are getting yourself into, liquidity and exit plans are important. Have fun doing it!

I guess my conclusion will be stomped on or trampled with silly work play. So go out, kick up your heels, have some fund and do not left the investment bullies scare you.

I just think I’ll do a slow cha cha out of here at the close………….

10/17/10 BAX, CVX, DE, DUK, HAS, HPQ, IBM, JNJ, K, MCD, PEP, RIG, SYY, TYC, UVV

10/17/10 BAX - Baxter International, CVX - Chevron Corp, DE - Deere & Company, DUK - Duke Energy, HAS - Hasbro, Inc, HPQ - Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM - International Business Machines, JNJ - Johnson & Johnson, K - Kellogg Company, MCD - McDonald's Corp, PEP - Pepsico, Inc, RIG - Global Marine, SYY - Sysco Corp, TYC- Tyco International, UVV - Universal Corp


CVX - Chevron Corp - either strategy captures the dividend,but the RVI's are high to extreme, while the P/E's are low.


DE - Deere & Company - We ran 4 scenario's in all because the in the money calls are so attractive. Our bias is to take the cash off the table quickly. We know others do not like this approach and therefore included the next level option, the 80 strike's. Because of the $5 spread between options premiums must adjust and again, the RVI's are high to extreme. The current P/E is way to high for us at 27.5 while the forward P/E is good at 15.



DUK - Duke Energy - Not too exciting but a typical play for a utility. The high dividend makes it attractive but the RVI's are high to extreme. The current P/E is way to high for us at 33.96 while the forward P/E is good at 13.



HAS - Hasbro, Inc - Overall a strong profile except the RVI's are high to extreme. We like the P/E's, SSR's and Days earnings.


IBM - International Business Machines - Big, Blue and Boring - oh did I forget a not too shabby profile? Again with the exception of high RVI's that are high to extreme.


JNJ - Johnson & Johnson - One of the few stocks today that do not have RVI's at the extremes. By the way, the Min/Max price range is $9.34/ for 52 weeks.

K - Kellogg Company - It's SSR is in the top 1/2 of today's stocks, the RVI's are the lowest overall and Days earnings are not bad. The Min/Max price range is $8.72/.

MCD - McDonalds Corp - Big juicy SSR's (#3 overall) and big Day's earnings. The RVI's are high.


PEP - Pepsico, Inc. - Not much to get excited about, the overall profile is attractive to us. I would opt for the later dated option as the Day's earnings difference is 0.002% from the near to the far date, the far date captures the dividend, and the SSR's are comparable.


RIG - Transocean Ltd - Harking back to the days before the Gulf spill, this was one of our favorites. Dividends were suspended due to any number of reasons, mostly politics. It is tough when a good stock suffers. We included it for nostalgia sake and do expect it to return to paying shareholders again.


SYY - Sysco Corporation - Too much to like about this stock, the overall profile appears to be excellent.


TYC - Tyco International - Too much to like about this stock, the overall profile appears to be excellent. TYC has been a consistent friend to us and remains attractive on all accounts.

UVV - Universal Corp - Possibly one of the best profile tobacco stocks on an overall basis. I can not find any single area where this stock does not look good.







*Note: the tables shown are embedded .jpg files. This means that you can: 1) double left click them with your mouse to enlarge them, or 2) right click them with your mouse and choose to open them in a new window or tab, print, save, etc.
As with everything we post, we may or may not have the stock and/or strategy in place in any one of our portfolios or may add it at any time. We do not make any buy or sell recommendations. We provide basic analytical research, some short commentary of the results and encourage you to do your own thorough due diligence prior to any purchase or sale.