Boring Portfolio Report
Wednesday, February 26, 1997
by Greg Markus (MF
Boring)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Feb. 26, 1997) -- Surely you know the drill by now. We've practiced it enough.
Step 1. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan starts his day by observing aloud that rising U.S. stock prices raise "questions of sustainability" and advising investors to exercise "caution."
Step 2. Traders, being the cautious sorts they are, shovel stocks out the window, sending the Dow into triple-digit losses in no time. Cautious enough, Boss?
Step 3. Lunch.
Step 4. Bored with caution, traders buy back many of the same issues they'd sold earlier in the day. Such is the efficient market.
The Dow ended Wednesday's session lower by 55 points, or 0.78%. The S&P 500 lost an equivalent amount, percentage-wise, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped somewhat less, 0.53%.
The Boring Portfolio lost a comparatively small 0.40% on Wednesday, despite the fact that only two holdings advanced.
One of the two was PRIME MEDICAL SERVICES (Nasdaq: PMSI), which tacked on another $1/8 ahead of the company's earnings report tomorrow morning to close at a bid of $11 5/8. According to First Call, analysts are expecting Prime to report earnings of $0.17 per share for the fourth quarter, which would constitute a 31% advance over the year-ago period. I'll be covering Prime's follow-up conference call.
The other Borefolio gainer was CISCO SYSTEMS (Nasdaq: CSCO), rising $1 5/8. Given that the nightly Borefolio recap has turned into something of a Cisco soliloquy of late, I hereby declare that there is no news on Cisco today and thus move on.
Yes, you've got that right. I declare that news of a pending merger between 3COM (Nasdaq: COMS) and US ROBOTICS (Nasdaq: USRX) is largely irrelevant to Cisco -- save to the degree that it might marginally facilitate the global interconnectedness of computers, which could only redound to Cisco's benefit.
And, yes, I also declare that a story in the current issue of Forbes magazine, detailing how Intel has begun to muscle into the networking business, is also largely irrelevant to Cisco -- save to the degree that it might marginally facilitate the global interconnectedness of computers, which could only redound to Cisco's benefit.
Once again: Expect to see increasing news of both partnerships and competition among Intel, MICROSOFT (Nasdaq: MSFT), and Cisco in coming months as Andy's and Bill's companies play catch-up in the rush to the 'Net. Expect, also, all three to benefit considerably in this enormously profitable non-zero sum game.
Now with that bit out of the way, what shall we talk about?
Well, there's not a lot to say, actually. I spy with my little eye no news on any Boring stocks today.
A Greenspan-inspired spike in interest rates didn't help stocks of financial services companies much, and that includes GREEN TREE FINANCIAL (NYSE: GNT). Green Tree lost $7/8 off the top. I notice that trading volume was about 40% lighter than average, suggesting something less than a wave of panic selling.
BORDERS GROUP (NYSE: BGP), CARLISLE (NYSE: CSL), ORACLE (Nasdaq: ORCL), and SOLECTRON (NYSE: SLR) each lost a fraction of a point, while TIDEWATER (NYSE: TDW) was unchanged at $43 3/8. Nothing remarkable in the trading volume of any of them. OXFORD HEALTH PLANS (Nasdaq: OXHP), being the volatile stock that it is, fell a bit more -- off $1 1/4. No news.
That's it. An easy recap for a change.
(c) Copyright 1997, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool.
Today's Numbers
Stock Change Bid -------------------- BGP - 3/8 42.88 CSL - 1/8 34.00 CSCO +1 5/8 58.13 GNT - 7/8 37.25 ORCL - 1/4 40.63 OXHP -1 1/4 56.25 PMSI + 1/8 11.63 SLR - 1/4 55.88 TDW --- 43.38
Day Month Year History
BORING -0.40% -2.12% 2.37% 17.80%
S&P: -0.79% 2.48% 8.77% 29.61%
NASDAQ: -0.53% -2.85% 3.84% 28.78%
Rec'd # Security In At Now Change
2/28/96 200 Borders Gr 22.51 42.88 90.45%
8/13/96 200 Carlisle C 26.32 34.00 29.16%
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 30.39 37.25 22.58%
5/24/96 100 Oxford Hea 48.02 56.25 17.13%
3/8/96 400 Prime Medi 10.07 11.63 15.46%
6/26/96 100 Cisco Syst 53.90 58.13 7.84%
10/15/96 100 Solectron 54.52 55.88 2.48%
12/23/96 100 Tidewater 46.52 43.38 -6.77%
11/21/96 100 Oracle Cor 48.65 40.63 -16.50%
Rec'd # Security In At Value Change
2/28/96 200 Borders Gr 4502.49 8575.00 $4072.51
8/13/96 200 Carlisle C 5264.99 6800.00 $1535.01
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 6077.49 7450.00 $1372.51
5/24/96 100 Oxford Hea 4802.49 5625.00 $822.51
3/8/96 400 Prime Medi 4027.49 4650.00 $622.51
6/26/96 100 Cisco Syst 5389.99 5812.50 $422.51
10/15/96 100 Solectron 5452.49 5587.50 $135.01
12/23/96 100 Tidewater 4652.49 4337.50 -$314.99
11/21/96 100 Oracle Cor 4864.99 4062.50 -$802.49
CASH $5999.08
TOTAL $58899.08
