SAIC Is Soaring

Posted on October 31st, 2006 in Uncategorized by Smarty

SAIC went public a few weeks ago, and I purchsed the stock at $18. Last week the stock jumped to almost $20. I sold a majority of my holding at $19.50. I made $1.50 per share, which is about 8.33%. Not too shabby for a two-week investment. My gains allowed me to buy a new digi-camera, the SD700 IS.

Today, SAI broke the $21 mark before dropping back to $20.33 for the close. I’m still thinking if I should short-term trade it. Over the long run, I believe SAI is a good investment.

Business Money Market with Checking

Posted on October 31st, 2006 in Banking and Credit by Smarty

I’m looking for an all-in-one account for my business, where it has high-yielding money-market rate and allows a few check writing with free ACH withdrawals. I currently have a HSBC Free Business Checking account, but it earns no interest. With interest rates so high these days, I’m losing out on quite some money. I would like some input from self-employed people out there, as well hearing suggestions for taking advantage of tax savings for me.

Opened a 6% 13-Month CD

Posted on October 30th, 2006 in Uncategorized by Smarty

I opened a 6% 13-month CD with Washington Mutual on 8/31/06. It seems to be one of the highest yielding CDs out there, even ’til today.

Q&A: What To Do With 20K Bonus?

Posted on October 30th, 2006 in Uncategorized by Smarty

A question from “What to do with 1K, 5K, or 10K of savings and in your twenties?”

Anonymous asked:
So i’ve got 20k from a recent bonus, and won’t need to touch it for about 10 months. After that I might use it for a down payment on an apartment. My money is currently sitting in a 5% savings account, but thinking about putting some of it in an higher yielding closed end bond fund. Any other suggestions for increasing my yield while not risking too much of my principal?

Smarty said:
If you could tolerate some risk, you may consider putting them in low-beta high-yielding dividend stocks. Do some research, you should be able to find a few companies that are expected to do well over the next 10 months. Otherwise, hunt for the highest yielding CDs. I recently opened a 6.00% 13-month CD with WaMu.

Q&A: What To Do With 20K Bonus?

Posted on October 30th, 2006 in Uncategorized by Smarty

A question from “What to do with 1K, 5K, or 10K of savings and in your twenties?”

Anonymous asked:
So i’ve got 20k from a recent bonus, and won’t need to touch it for about 10 months. After that I might use it for a down payment on an apartment. My money is currently sitting in a 5% savings account, but thinking about putting some of it in an higher yielding closed end bond fund. Any other suggestions for increasing my yield while not risking too much of my principal?

Smarty said:
If you could tolerate some risk, you may consider putting them in low-beta high-yielding dividend stocks. Do some research, you should be able to find a few companies that are expected to do well over the next 10 months. Otherwise, hunt for the highest yielding CDs. I recently opened a 6.00% 13-month CD with WaMu.

Q&A: What To Do With 20K Bonus?

Posted on October 30th, 2006 in Uncategorized by Smarty

A question from “What to do with 1K, 5K, or 10K of savings and in your twenties?”

Anonymous asked:
So i’ve got 20k from a recent bonus, and won’t need to touch it for about 10 months. After that I might use it for a down payment on an apartment. My money is currently sitting in a 5% savings account, but thinking about putting some of it in an higher yielding closed end bond fund. Any other suggestions for increasing my yield while not risking too much of my principal?

Smarty said:
If you could tolerate some risk, you may consider putting them in low-beta high-yielding dividend stocks. Do some research, you should be able to find a few companies that are expected to do well over the next 10 months. Otherwise, hunt for the highest yielding CDs. I recently opened a 6.00% 13-month CD with WaMu.

Blogger Update

Posted on October 30th, 2006 in Blog Updates by Smarty

I haven’t updated much recently because I’ve been busy with work and closely monitoring the stock market. I have done a lot of short-term trading lately, and I’ve been making some nice profits. I still hold some long-term investments, but I want to spice up my portfolio so I mixed it with some short term trades. I’ll try to post some updates on my trading, but it’s time-consuming. I hope I haven’t lost too many readers. I’d like people to post their trades and investment strategies as well. I’ve also created a private investment group. If you would like to join, just put “Growing Money” in the comments and I’ll sign you in.

Initially, I created a Google group, but because I had a few complaints, I switched over to Yahoo group.

Here’s the Yahoo group link:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/StockPickersElite/

Is Sony (SNE) a buy?

Posted on October 23rd, 2006 in Stocks by Smarty

I read an article in BusinessWeek on Sony. Sony is banking most of its money on its Blu-Ray technology. Their main competitor is Toshiba’s HD-DVD. Blu-Ray can hold 25GB on a single layer and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. Music and film industries are pushing for Blu-Ray technology, because Blu-Ray DVDs have larger storage capacity and will enforce copyright laws to prevent privacy. Blu-Ray DVD technology players will only play original Blu-Ray DVDs. With all the backings by major companies, it looks like Sony will win the war on high-def DVD standard format. Also, the Sony PS3 will come with a Blu-Ray player but the XBox has not incorporate such technology yet. It looks like they will also recapture a large percentage of the gaming industry. Now, the question is, “Is Sony a buy?”

The stock closed at 40.35 today. Looking at the fundmentals, it’s good in some areas and not good in others. The forward P/E of 19.78 looks attractive, while the PEG ratio of 1.52 suggests that its earnings is not growing fast enough over it’s P/E. The margins are very low. The debt level is very unappetizing to me. However, the next year growth rate is at 104%. That certainly looks like it would change things if it meets 2008’s expected earnings. Also, if Sony wins the high-def DVD war, it will be bring a lot of attention to the company and investors’ interest.

Trailing P/E (ttm, intraday): 31.52
Forward P/E (fye 31-Mar-08) 1: 19.78
PEG Ratio (5 yr expected): 1.52
Profit Margin (ttm): 2.13%
Operating Margin (ttm): 4.66%
Total Debt (mrq): 9.55B
Next Year Growth: 104.0%

Is Yahoo a Buy?

Posted on October 18th, 2006 in Uncategorized by Smarty

Yahoo is hitting not just a 52 week low, but a 104 week low.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=YHOO&t=2y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

The fundamental looks great at this point.

Profit Margin (ttm): 21.11%
Return on Equity (ttm): 15.40%
Revenue (ttm): 5.97B
Revenue Per Share (ttm): 4.233
Total Cash (mrq): 2.69B
Total Cash Per Share (mrq): 1.947
% Held by Insiders: 10.25%

The insides have a 10% stake in the company, which is a very large size for a company this huge. Looking at the chart, Yahoo has been dropping for some time. The biggest question is, “Has Yahoo’s stock bottom out yet?”

SAIC Goes Public

Posted on October 16th, 2006 in Uncategorized by Smarty

My company went public recently and started trading in the secondary market on Friday, October 13. I purchased shares at $18.

The IPO was for $15, but was traded up to $17 in the primary market. The stock opened at $17 in the market on Friday morning and closed at $18.18.

SAIC provides scientific, engineering and technical services to the U.S. military and government agencies.

Science Applications International Jumps 20% On Debut

SAIC: A Company Built to Last

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