Boring Portfolio Report
Tuesday, May 20, 1997
by Greg Markus (TMF
Boring)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (May 20, 1997) -- After spending most of the day in limbo, major market averages soared in last hour of trading on the news that the Fed would leave interest rates as they are, at least for the time being. The Dow and S&P 500 each rose 1%, while the Nasdaq zoomed 23 points, or 1.7%.
The Boring Portfolio advanced more in a few hours than it had in the year-to-date, gaining 2%. The Borefolio's sole loss consisted of a $1/8 descent by ATLAS AIR (Nasdaq: ATLS).
The news on interest rates bolstered stocks in the financial sector, including GREEN TREE FINANCIAL (NYSE: GNT), which grew $1/2. The company's Board of Directors has approved a 17% increase in the dividend to an annual rate of $0.35 per common share, effective in the third quarter of this year.
Tuesday was "Scalability Day" for MICROSOFT (Nasdaq: MSFT). Heralded by multi-page ads in national newspapers and featuring speeches by Bill Gates, the event was intended to demonstrate that Windows NT operating system and Windows business software were ready for prime time in the corporate world. That world, of course, is the primary hunting ground of ORACLE CORP. (Nasdaq: ORCL). Scalability Day or no, ORCL gained $3/4.
The Borefolio's other pure-play in technology, CISCO SYSTEMS (Nasdaq: CSCO), also had a good day, rising $3 1/2. Cisco announced that it has been selected to build the China National Financial Data Communications Backbone Network to link major banks and financial institutions. When complete, the network will span nearly 200 cities in China, forming that country's largest Frame Relay network. It will be capable of handling voice, data, video, multimedia and Internet communications.
In Cisco's press release, the contract was indicated to be a "multi-million-dollar" one. Since it includes, among other things, the installation of 200 Cisco StrataCom IGX switches, I'd speculate that "multi-" is, if anything, a bit of an understatement.
I spotted no news on PRIME MEDICAL SERVICES (Nasdaq: PMSI), but I did notice that the stock gained a half-point on above-average trading volume. This was on a day when overall market volume was somewhat subdued, as traders awaited news from the Fed for most of the day.
BORDERS GROUP (NYSE: BGP) announced it has signed a lease to open a 20,000 square-foot superstore next year at Aggie Village in Davis, CA. Make sure you put up plenty of bike racks, Borders. Davis is one of the most bike-friendly cities in America. Oh yes, BGP gained $5/8.
That's about all I have to report on this fine spring evening. I'm off now to Tappan Middle School for the final concert of the year. Based on inside information from the second clarinetist, I expect that the orchestra will exceed the Street's expectations.
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Stock Change Bid ATLS - 1/8 27.50 BGP + 5/8 21.38 CSL + 1/8 30.50 CSCO +3 1/2 64.38 GNT + 1/2 34.63 ORCL + 3/4 44.88 OXHP +1 5/8 67.00 PMSI + 1/2 10.50 TDW + 1/8 41.00
Day Month Year History
BORING +1.99% 7.26% 3.04% 18.57%
S&P: +1.01% 5.03% 13.62% 35.40%
NASDAQ: +1.69% 8.18% 5.64% 31.02%
Rec'd # Security In At Now Change
2/28/96 400 Borders Gr 11.26 21.38 89.89%
5/24/96 100 Oxford Hea 48.02 67.00 39.51%
6/26/96 100 Cisco Syst 53.90 64.38 19.43%
3/5/97 150 Atlas Air 23.06 27.50 19.26%
8/13/96 200 Carlisle C 26.32 30.50 15.86%
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 30.39 34.63 13.95%
3/8/96 400 Prime Medi 10.07 10.50 4.28%
11/21/96 100 Oracle Cor 48.65 44.88 -7.76%
12/23/96 100 Tidewater 46.52 41.00 -11.88%
Rec'd # Security In At Value Change
2/28/96 400 Borders Gr 4502.49 8550.00 $4047.51
5/24/96 100 Oxford Hea 4802.49 6700.00 $1897.51
6/26/96 100 Cisco Syst 5389.99 6437.50 $1047.51
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 6077.49 6925.00 $847.51
8/13/96 200 Carlisle C 5264.99 6100.00 $835.01
3/5/97 150 Atlas Air 3458.74 4125.00 $666.26
3/8/96 400 Prime Medi 4027.49 4200.00 $172.51
11/21/96 100 Oracle Cor 4864.99 4487.50 -$377.49
12/23/96 100 Tidewater 4652.49 4100.00 -$552.49
CASH $7660.41
TOTAL $59285.41
