"We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful." -- Warren Buffett
Out of the quadrillions of quotations quarried from that most loquacious of quotationists, this one holds a special place in the hearts of Foolish investors. Are you looking to "buy low" to later "sell high?" If so, your best chance of getting that initial, low entry price comes when panicked sellers are unloading their shares at whatever price is on offer.
In today's column, we search the ranks of Wall Street's motivated sellers and note which stocks they're most frantic to unload. Therein may lie the makings of a contrarian's Christmas list (to self). But don't just take my word for it. Before you decide to go in through Wall Street's out door, check your thinking against the collective intelligence of Motley Fool CAPS investors.
Today's contenders include:
30-Day Price Decline |
Currently Fetching |
CAPS Rating |
|
---|---|---|---|
Brightpoint |
-20% |
$10.67 |
**** |
Encysive Pharmaceuticals |
-34% |
$3.88 |
**** |
Dynavax |
-37% |
$6.03 |
* |
Neurochem |
-27% |
$18.19 |
* |
Dyadic International |
-27% |
$4.89 |
* |
Trump Entertainment |
-21% |
$17.73 |
* |
Companies are selected from the "Institutional Ownership Down Last Month" list published on MSN Money on the Saturday following close of trading last week. MSN Money also provided price decline and current pricing on that day. The CAPS ratings are from Motley Fool CAPS.
Decisions, decisions
Oh, whichever stock shall we feature in today's column? The choices are legion. I'm obviously tempted to highlight Dynavax. Less than one month ago, the stock debuted in the Dec. 18, 2006, edition of the companion column to this one, "Wall Street's Wish List." Apparently, 29 days is all it takes to turn a stock from "Some Pig" to dirty ol' hog on Wall Street.
And then there's the Fool's old friend: Encysive, which was a July 2005 Motley Fool Rule Breakers selection. The fact that this stock best exemplifies the "in through Wall Street's out door" strategy we usually explore in this column makes my decision all the more difficult ...
Temptation wins out
... because I'm going to bow to my baser nature today and give in to temptation. Between the recent debut of the sixth season of The Apprentice and The Fool's history with The Donald, can you blame me for settling on Trump Entertainment as this week's choice?
Here's a sampling of the few nice things Fools have to say about Trump (the corporation):
- rstace believes Trump is a "Turnaround story" and argues: "Property values on [the] AC strip provide downside hedge to less than stellar near term operating [sic]. However, strong management should lead [the] company to financial success and out of [a] highly leveraged position."
- kahunacfa -- a fixture on the Foolish discussion boards for years -- gives us a pitch with some substance to it: "Trump Casinos have the upscale panache and the upscale "The Donald" image. This image is constantly re-enforced by "The Apprentice" reality show. This stock should be a winner too!"
Now it's your turn, dear reader. Do you agree with our two Fools above who think the Street is crazy to "fire" the Donald? Or does this stock need to grab its single suitcase and take a cab-ride home? Log on to CAPS now and tell us what you think. And mind the typos.
Motley Fool CAPS: It's fun, it's free, and it just might make you famous.
Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any company named above. You can find him on CAPS, publicly pontificating under the handle TMFDitty, where he's ranked 30 out of more than 20,000 raters. Encysive is a Rule Breakers choice. The Fool has a disclosure policy.