Boring
Portfolio Report
Thursday, January 22, 1998
by Mark Weaver, MD
([email protected])
St. Louis, MO (January 22, 1998) -- Another Thursday, another down day for the markets and the Borefolio. The S&P dropped 0.80%, the Naz 0.72% while the Borefolio was off 1.13%. January just hasn't been a heck of a lot of fun.
Our newest portfolio addition, Andrew (Nasdaq: ANDW), has been impressive since our purchase yesterday morning. Today it was up $11/16. If you haven't had a chance, take a glance at Greg's buy report. You will see that we anticipate continued good things from Andrew. With Andrew trading at the low end of its historic valuation, the bullish earnings report last week was all that was needed to ignite the stock. We are glad we've hopped on for the ride.
Carlisle (NYSE: CSL) continued to show strength today in the face of this down market. The stock rose $7/16. Yesterday the company announced the completion of its acquisition of Hardcast Europe "a leading manufacturer of specialty adhesive and sealant products for the European roofing, building and other industrial tape markets." If the description of that business warmed your heart then, as far as I'm concerned, you are a right-thinkin' investor. Markets go up and markets go down but roofs will always leak.
The only other winner was Felcor Suite Hotels (NYSE: FCH) up $1/16. The company announced estimate beating earnings yesterday. This impressive performance met a collective yawn from investors. Considering what the market has done the past two days, a yawn is a good thing.
The big loser of the day (apart from my confidence in our public officials) was Tidewater (NYSE: TDW) which was shellacked along with all other oil related stocks. Tidewater singlehandedly accounted for 0.67% of the Borefolio losses today. This stock has been anything but boring of late. While the basic business plugs along, its connection to the world of commodities makes for twists and turns that are occasionally, like today, gut wrenching.
What a difference one little sentence can make. In its earnings press release Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) included a line which cautioned that exploration and development plans of its clients might be scaled back if oil demand weakened due to the economic problems in Asia. This set off a flurry of sell orders. The fact that the value of oil drillers and oil service stocks have already been trimmed in the neighborhood of 50% on the basis of these same worries didn't stop traders from whacking off another 10% of market value.
To top things off, Schlumberger and driller Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) missed estimates by a skosh. That didn't warm investor's hearts either. All in all it wasn't a good day for oil industry bulls.
Green Tree Financial (NYSE: GNT) dropped $5/8. Yet another lawsuit was filed related to the recent decline in the price of the stock. With rare exception, these lawsuits are a total waste of time and energy. Even though we've participated in the losses mentioned, the Borefolio has no plans to join in any of the various suits which have been filed. Markets go up and markets go down but lawyers always sue.
There's a picturesque snowstorm in progress here in the heartland. It strikes me as a better focus for my attention than worries about an unstable market or hysteria over the latest caper in our nation's capital. I think I'll take a stroll.
FoolWatch -- It's what's going on at the Fool today.
Buy a Book and Get It Signed! -- Book Tour '98
Stock Change Bid ANDW + 11/16 28.00 CGO - 3/4 22.38 BGP - 1/16 31.06 CSL + 7/16 45.63 CSCO -1 9/16 57.75 FCH + 1/16 37.56 GNT - 5/8 23.50 TDW -4 3/16 45.31 |
Day Month Year History
BORING -1.13% -3.01% -3.01% 22.04%
S&P: -0.80% -0.76% -0.76% 54.92%
NASDAQ: -0.72% 0.39% 0.39% 51.45%
Rec'd # Security In At Now Change
2/28/96 400 Borders Gr 11.26 31.06 175.96%
8/13/96 200 Carlisle C 26.32 45.63 73.31%
6/26/96 150 Cisco Syst 35.93 57.75 60.71%
1/21/98 200 Andrew Corp 26.09 28.00 7.30%
11/6/97 200 FelCor Sui 37.59 37.56 -0.07%
3/5/97 150 Atlas Air 23.06 22.38 -2.96%
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 30.39 23.50 -22.67%
12/23/96 100 Tidewater 46.52 45.31 -2.61%
Rec'd # Security In At Value Change
2/28/96 400 Borders Gr 4502.49 12425.00 $7922.51
8/13/96 200 Carlisle C 5264.99 9125.00 $3860.01
6/26/96 150 Cisco Syst 5389.99 8662.50 $3272.51
1/21/98 200 Andrew Corp 5218.00 5600.00 $382.00
3/5/97 150 Atlas Air 3458.74 3356.25 -$102.49
11/6/97 200 FelCor Sui 7518.00 7512.50 -$5.50
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 6077.49 4700.00 -$1377.49
12/23/96 100 Tidewater 4652.49 4531.25 -$121.24
CASH $5206.47
TOTAL $61018.97
