Boring
Portfolio Report
Monday, March 02, 1998
by Greg Markus ([email protected])
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (March 2, 1998) -- Down for much of the day, the Dow managed to eke out a 5-point gain and establish another record high, at 8550. Not so for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices, however. They fell 0.16% and 0.67% respectively as weakness in the bond market pushed the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury over the 6% mark.
The Boring Portfolio slept through this first trading day of March, finishing the session essentially where it left off on Friday. Two Borefolio holdings closed up, two down, and two unchanged. Zzz-z-z.
Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) issued an update today on their joint effort to establish their Directory-Enabled Networks (DEN) initiative as an industry standard. According to a press release, the DEN Ad Hoc Working Group last week endorsed submission of DEN specification to the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF) standards body. The DEN initiative "is intended to integrate the management of servers and network services as well as enable a new generation of networked applications." Zzz-z-z.
This Borefolio manager caught the red-eye back from Los Angeles Sunday night, following a glorious weekend unblemished by El Nino storms. As is my custom, I stopped in at a local Borders (NYSE: BGP) to do a little ground-level research on our investment. This time, I added the superstore in Thousand Oaks, Calif., to the list of Borders stores I've visited.
The books and music selections at the Thousand Oaks Borders were great. In keeping with the substantial time that Angelenos spend ensconced in their vehicles on the freeways, the books-on-tape section was particularly impressive. An unscientific sampling of the staff's knowledge about the store's offerings was a notch or two below the standard set at Borders #001 here in Treetown, however. I'd give the Thousand Oaks store an "A" for selection and maybe a "B" for service.
Upon returning home, I fished the latest supplement of Value Line out of the mailbox. This week's Selection & Opinion section offers a select list of 19 "timely growth stocks" that made it through a screen that searched for issues with superior EPS gains in recent years (at least 15% annually over the past five years) and good prospects for continuing to do so over the next three to five years.
As you might expect, a number of the stocks that made it through this screen carried above-average risk. Only one of the nineteen selected stocks sported an above-average rating for "safety," and that was Borefolio favorite Carlisle Companies (NYSE: CSL). Perhaps to acknowledge that distinction, shares of Carlisle picked up $1/8 on Monday to close at $48 9/16.
Also on the list was the Borefolio's Andrew Corp. (Nasdaq: ANDW). Glory be, Andrew was the other Boring stock that rose Monday! ANDW gained $1/2 to a bid of $28 1/8.
FoolWatch -- It's what's going on at the Fool today.
Stock Change Bid ANDW + 1/2 28.13 CGO --- 29.75 BGP --- 33.31 CSL + 1/8 48.56 CSCO - 11/16 65.19 FCH - 3/16 35.69 |
Day Month Year History
BORING -0.02% -0.02% 0.49% 26.45%
S&P: -0.16% -0.16% 7.96% 68.54%
NASDAQ: -0.67% -0.67% 11.99% 68.95%
Rec'd # Security In At Now Change
2/28/96 400 Borders Gr 11.26 33.31 195.95%
8/13/96 200 Carlisle C 26.32 48.56 84.47%
6/26/96 150 Cisco Syst 35.93 65.19 81.41%
3/5/97 150 Atlas Air 23.06 29.75 29.02%
1/21/98 200 Andrew Cor 26.09 28.13 7.80%
11/6/97 200 FelCor Sui 37.59 35.69 -5.06%
Rec'd # Security In At Value Change
2/28/96 400 Borders Gr 4502.49 13325.00 $8822.51
8/13/96 200 Carlisle C 5264.99 9712.50 $4447.51
6/26/96 150 Cisco Syst 5389.99 9778.13 $4388.14
3/5/97 150 Atlas Air 3458.74 4462.50 $1003.76
1/21/98 200 Andrew Cor 5218.00 5625.00 $407.00
11/6/97 200 FelCor Sui 7518.00 7137.50 -$380.50
CASH $13182.97
TOTAL $63223.60
