iBooyah.com Investment Matters

5-31-07: One of the most of difficult decisions one has to make in trading stocks is deciding when to sell.  This is especially difficult during a bull market when the indices keep setting new record highs. People tend to coast during a good market, not really managing their portfolio as they would during a bear market.  We see headlines such as "buy high and sell higher" as investors become complacent. The mentality is, as long as the stock appreciates, there is no need to make adjustments. This mentality will only lead to trouble. 

Posted by ibooyah at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

5-30-07: There are not many value stocks out there these days. Most of the well known stocks are priced for perfection.  For example, the energy sector such as ConnocoPhillips (COP), ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) are all at or near all time highs.  We are reluctant to accumulate more shares at these prices.  We believed the run could be nearing its end. To this degree, we are taking profit whenever we can.  In our view, the current market is very risky and investors should be anticipating a slight correction over the horizon.  On a related note, several of our recent predictions were correct. 

Posted by ibooyah at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

5-24-07:  Memorial Day weekend is finally here.  Most of us will be heading to the lake, camping or perhaps visit families to mark the start of summer.  Whatever you decide to do this long weekend, we wish you a safe holiday. We don’t expect to see much action tomorrow as far as the stock market.  Today’s sell off is nothing to be concern about.  The stock market has been on a tear; a temporary 87 point drop in the DOW is probably healthy.  Take this opportunity to look for bargains. Check out Network Appliance Inc. (NTAP). NTAP appears attractive at current level.

Posted by ibooyah at 08:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

5-23-07: Jones Soda Company (JSDA) is an interesting new comer to the soft drink market.  While JSDA has not reached critical mass and has yet to become a household name like the Coca-Cola and Pepsi of the world, this small company is getting a lot of attention, very much like Hansen (HANS) a few years ago. Looking over the company’s stock performance, JSDA has provided investors with about 100% return in the past two year (very respectable).  Currently trading about $21 per share, the question is whether JSDA is currently a good buy. Let’s take a look.

Posted by ibooyah at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

5-20-07: As gas price continues to climb, there is little evidence people are altering their driving habits.  Don’t expect this to change anytime soon because there is little we can do about it. The lack of mass transportation infrastructure provides very little options for most of us. Driving has become a necessity in most cases; it is part of our culture.  All these talk about alternative energy is horse crap since any real solution is years away. The fact of the matter is we are stuck and need to drive.  The question before us today, is it too late to get into the Energy sector?

Posted by ibooyah at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Researching stock is cumbersome and most people have little idea where to begin. This article will attempt to provide some insights into this important process. The first step begins with researching the industry in which the interested company operates.  This involves many factors such as the competitive position of a particular industry and how the industry stacks up against the others and which companies within an industry holds the most promise.  Once you have narrowed down the companies within the interested industries, the next step is to look closely at the fundamentals.

Posted by ibooyah at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

5-10-07: The down side to the current bull market is there are little obvious bargains. In our view, the current environment has most stocks priced for perfection where the downside risk is great.  This market cannot continue to rally without some bumps along the way. We fear a correction is near. Therefore, we are shifting our strategy to protecting the recent profits.  Here are some stocks we believed should be sold before everyone realizes it is over priced.

Posted by ibooyah at 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

5-8-07: Tomorrow (5/9/07) should be interesting as the Feds will release their decision on short term interest rates. We expect the Feds to keep interest at 5.25% since there does not appear to be ample evidence to move in either direction.  While economic data suggest the economy is showing more signs of a slow down such as lower than expected hiring, uninspiring home sales, this would not be enough to warrant a hike or reduction of short term rates.

Posted by ibooyah at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

5-3-07: This morning there are confirmed reports that Yahoo! is being pursued by Microsoft (MSFT).  Yahoo! is up about 17% percent on this news.  To those of us who followed Yahoo, this does not come as a surprise.  Rumors of Yahoo and MSFT merging have been around for over 2 years.  This time we believed a deal is likely to happen as both companies must take drastic measures in order to capture a larger share of the online advertising market.  Some analyst are saying the combination would not work because of cultural differences and etc.. However, here are some reasons why a merger could work:

Posted by ibooyah at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

One of our readers calling himself “Stock Detective” recently posted a very interesting comment about NutriSystems.  Since we have been publishing on iBooyah.com, “Stock Detective” has been an excellent contributor, providing detail and often insightful information about NTRI and other companies.  His analysis about NTRI has been dead on in the past. The following is his latest thoughts on NTRI on 4-28-07:

Posted by ibooyah at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

5-3-07: As the stock market set new record high, we wonder how long before the next correction will occur. Keeping in mind there has not been a market correction since the Chinese market sell-off a few months ago; the possibility of a correction appears to be on the horizon. While corporate profits and economic data suggest the overall health of the U.S economy is strong and still growing, we believed the stock market has gotten ahead of itself. As a result of the record breaking market level and the complacent attitude of investors, it our opinion a correction will soon take place within the next three months. When it happens, it could have a snowball effect.

Posted by ibooyah at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

05-1-07:  An interesting M&A activity today.  The Dow Jones (NYSE:DJ) received an unsolicited offer from News Corp. (NWS) for $5 billion, which would put the company at about $60 per share.  DJ’s share shot up over 54 % on this news, finally closing at $56 per share.  If the deal does go through, this would give News Corp. a major piece of publishing business.  For those that are existing holders of DJ shares, this would be an excellent opportunity to sell. Given this is an unsolicited offer, the deal has a good chance of not going through.  In our view, investors should take this gift from Mr. Murdoch and lock in some profit.

Posted by ibooyah at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)