tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:56:00 +0000http://www.tengrandchicago.com/dt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)Blogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-9215567364099241908Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:42:00 +00002009-10-16T18:56:25.451-05:00BGPAMZNWMTDisclosure: I own put options on Borders Group Last May I briefly spoke about avoiding Borders Group (BGP) due to competitive pressures form Amazon and Barnes and Nobles in addition to their weak liquidity position when balanced against their debts. Things just got more challenging as Walmart just decided to lower some of their popular hardcover books to $10. Amazon followed suit for which http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/dQ-9D_nUYLY/borders-facing-more-hurdles.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/10/borders-facing-more-hurdles.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-9083238674210749433Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:44:00 +00002009-10-13T17:07:37.395-05:00SPYPCUIVACDVAMXTKCEWCXLFTRMSXHBThe 3rd quarter has just wrapped up, and it’s time to check into the Ten Grand Chicago Portfolio. It’s been tough staying on top of the investments with my real day job acting up and drawing up my free time. A year and three quarters have passed and the Ten Grand Chicago Portfolio stands at a 10.4% total gain. It’s not much, but considering what the markets went through the last year I am http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/4Fcax4vB5pI/3rd-quarter-104-gain.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/10/3rd-quarter-104-gain.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-595383206348546695Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:26:00 +00002009-09-26T22:40:39.321-05:00AMXAmerica Movil (AMX) turned up in one my screens today. Here are some quick stats: - P/E 14.1, a little on the high side compared to my other communication service holdings TurkCell (TKC), and Magyar Telecom (MTA). - Return on Assets at 17%. Not bad, but I usually screen for ROA exceeding 20%. - 8.6B in total debt, with 1.1B cash on hand. Not pleasing. My only exposure to Latin America http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/L43d3xjdWgg/amx-america-movil-sab-de-cv.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/09/amx-america-movil-sab-de-cv.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-1049142951070236650Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:45:00 +00002009-08-24T23:05:35.680-05:00PCUINGIVACDVI took the liberty to clear some positions off the table today. Some long term positions I have held in the portfolio have come around (Southern Copper and ING), while others I'm just looking to exit due to weakness (Intevac). DeVry has been good to me, and it's time to exit again netting a 25% gain for the short term. I took some positions off the table because the employment indicators http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/EzeGx82FMmc/clearing-some-bits-off-table.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/08/clearing-some-bits-off-table.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-3653347474227245347Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:55:00 +00002009-08-03T09:13:20.839-05:00economic factorsISMemployment indexThe market has made a nice run of late on the strength second quarterly earnings from a number of companies. Economic numbers from GDP to housing starts are improving. The question everyone is asking is whether we have turned a corner as the markets are leading us to believe. At 10am EST the ISM Manufacturing Report on Business numbers come out for July. The key number to focus in on is the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/Zm9cxQt52V4/ism-employment-index.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/08/ism-employment-index.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-3125741279974781572Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:17:00 +00002009-07-31T22:41:39.076-05:00TurkcellBelarusTKC3GI strolled in this morning to find a nice surprise that Turkcell (TKC) will receive frequencies to run 3G in Belarus. The company is the only mobile operator to receive 3G frequencies in the country. This adds to their continued strategy to drive 3G within their own market, and into other developing markets as well. The company stated back in Q1 that the would be launching 3G services in http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/7TsXgGxNHkE/turkcell-moving-at-3g-speed-into.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/07/turkcell-moving-at-3g-speed-into.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-6753444164018960918Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:31:00 +00002009-06-19T00:58:05.936-05:00furniture industryofficeMLHRDisclosure: I own shares of MLHR Herman Miller last month announced more details in its plans to reduce costs in its effort to ride out this economic downturn. The details include the closure of one of its manufacturing facilities in Michigan and redistribution of equipment and production capacity to other facilities in the area. The company reports that this move will cost the company a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/Zn8vPRz7SO8/herman-miller-preparing-for-long-haul.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/06/herman-miller-preparing-for-long-haul.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-2663079801992601212Sat, 30 May 2009 01:38:00 +00002009-05-29T21:27:35.083-05:00OPENBGPIt has been a while since I last posted. My real day job has been pretty busy, but let's jump straight into some stock editorial. Two stocks received some prominent focus this week in the press. OpenTable and Borders. OpenTable kickstarted an IPO on a very high note, trading 59% on the opening day. They run a business of selling reservation systems to restaurants (hardware/software), but http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/jtfv7T9Krcw/opentablecom-and-borders-things-to.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)2http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/05/opentablecom-and-borders-things-to.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-9050726972653212177Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:56:00 +00002009-04-03T06:41:55.628-05:00CBACJPM I'm not so sure about the news today regarding mark to market changes to help the banks. For those that are not aware of mark-to-market rules, it basically forces a company to revalue its assets appropriately to its true value in the market. Take for example the Pontiac Aztek. GM's vivid creation of beauty. Let's say you owned one of these babies. At some point you probably want to find outhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/1GQD9TdjkXg/mark-to-market.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/04/mark-to-market.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-1834393067829946392Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:34:00 +00002009-03-29T23:49:00.316-05:00GMSundays are for sports. During the fall season I get to sit back and watch Sunday Night Football. Today it's North Carolina walking all over Oklahoma. Sundays are starting to get more interesting with big government action. From letting Lehman go to JP Morgan picking up Bear Stearns, all the action seems to happen on Sunday. Now comes Wagoner's ouster, the CEO of GM. I have to admit, this http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/5P8vaviUWZs/wagoners-out.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/03/wagoners-out.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-6105805559922175486Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:55:00 +00002009-03-18T09:03:12.460-05:00MLHRDisclosure: I own shares of Herman Miller. Herman Miller reports Q3 earnings today after the close. The company has been taking a lot of actions recently to handle the downturn in the economy. The office furniture industry has been hurt right along with it. The company recently announced a reduction in hours and pay by 10%. Some workers will be required to take every other Friday off to helphttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/Ay0LNkLFJ-I/its-miller-time.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/03/its-miller-time.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-2781004946494692417Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:26:00 +00002009-03-16T13:28:16.485-05:00DVStock is down almost 10%. The fundamentals of this company hasn't changed, other than it's suddenly out of style. I covered this stock early last year, and the valuation is more attractive today.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/BJWJtxRJd3Y/time-to-get-back-into-devry-again.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/03/time-to-get-back-into-devry-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-929254252847163554Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:04:00 +00002009-02-22T17:16:14.570-06:00BIFMAMLHRHerman Miller (MLHR), a Ten Grand Chicago holding hasn't been performing for quite some time. Based on my analysis at the time, I considered a good value and strategic play. The office furniture market has tanked along with every thing else in the economic crisis, so it's time to look back on my initial analysis and start doing some in depth coverage of what has happened since then, and what http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/LCQSLpI4c2g/sitting-in-with-herman-miller-mlhr.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/02/sitting-in-with-herman-miller-mlhr.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-6008536706559724526Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:29:00 +00002009-02-03T20:11:16.963-06:00STRACOCOCECOAPOLDVESI"Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner". -- DeNiro in Heat This is pretty much how I view all the for-profit education sector stocks these days. The sudden shift in my perception is due to the increasing popularity of this sector and the high valuations investors have put on these stocks. The http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/LhuuQHvxFNE/educational-heat.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/02/educational-heat.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-5401728468794347130Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:55:00 +00002009-01-24T19:28:56.668-06:00IBMWITSAYINFYWhen it rains, it pours. Just over a month ago, I had turned my eyes toward the Indian IT outsourcing companies, focusing in on any long term opportunities given the Mumbai terrorist incident. It didn't take long for a major storm to hit with Satyam's CEO admitting to cooking up financial numbers. This was right after his company had made an attempt to acquire two other companies owned by his http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/ToNrgrPo094/satyam-customer-defections-and-damage.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/01/satyam-customer-defections-and-damage.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-6010348602568476106Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:49:00 +00002009-01-04T14:16:01.366-06:00economic factorsISMThis past week the Institute of Supply Chain Management (ISM) released their Manufacturing report on business. It wasn't pretty, with a reading of 32.4% (See my previous article on how to interpret these index numbers). Levels that haven't been seen since the mid 70's and early 80's. So why dig into the report? Well, it only takes you 10 minutes to read it, and it reveals other bits of http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/kt_6RMFz1yg/dissecting-ism-manufacturing-index.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/01/dissecting-ism-manufacturing-index.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-4044956912243480904Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:33:00 +00002009-01-03T12:49:49.739-06:00EWC The other day I was watching the NHL Winter Classic on TV in Chicago. As much as I would have liked to attend the game in person, it was pretty cool to see O'Canada sung inside Wrigley. I said to myself, "How cool is that?". As I shed a tear from my eye, I reminisced about my days growing up in Canada, the street hockey games, the great Canadian accent... and yes, the poor retirement vehicleshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/3_TCytF9OKA/o-canada-roth-ira-vehicle-for-canada.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2009/01/o-canada-roth-ira-vehicle-for-canada.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-7273407582362512944Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:27:00 +00002008-12-19T10:22:44.368-06:00SAYThis week Satyam (SAY) took a massive beating from the market dropping more than 50% on Tuesday after it announced it was going to acquire 100% of Maytas Properties, and 51% of Maytas Infra. Why the beat down? Well, some of the folks who are in charge at Satyam, spefically B. Rama Raju (founder) also has family ties within Maytas properties. Hmmm... With all the scrutiny going on these dayshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/V1lQuQCLxIQ/satyam-raju-and-gang.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2008/12/satyam-raju-and-gang.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-6813796837571881190Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:28:00 +00002008-11-27T21:47:52.877-06:00WITSAYINFYThe last thing the major IT services firms in India needed, was the terrorist attacks that occurred over the past 48 hours in Mumbai. Unlike previous attacks in Bangalore and New Delhi, this one is taking center stage with respect to media coverage. Pretty much what the terrorists are looking for. Companies such as Wipro, InfoSys, Satyam, and Tata Consultancy Services are going to have more http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/lIDlKBb4POE/it-services-troubles-for-india.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2008/11/it-services-troubles-for-india.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-3059154534468239182Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:21:00 +00002008-11-16T21:35:58.008-06:00MLHRIt's been extremely hard to focus on stock selection when I wake up to layoff news every morning. At times I worry about my own job let alone other company's prospects. Herman Miller just recently announced another set of cost reductions through voluntary and involuntary work force reductions. After the company managed its operating expenditures through the mountain high commodity costs thishttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/8K8q5ZDRlio/cost-reductions-at-herman-miller.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)1http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2008/11/cost-reductions-at-herman-miller.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-6818376762862568669Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:50:00 +00002008-10-30T21:52:22.330-05:00STRADVcredit crisisI spend some of my days at the office up at the white board designing, explaining, or simplifying problems with some of my fellow team members. It's a great exercise at the office, but when I come home from a long day, the last thing I want to see on TV is the UPS guy do more white boarding. I left the office not to come back to it. I don't care if the guy can draw straight lines and nice http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/e7CRDQgAX2U/good-credit-crisis-101-material.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2008/10/good-credit-crisis-101-material.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-5007575908892558571Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:43:00 +00002008-10-24T08:56:22.355-05:00DVDeVry reported a very impressive quarter. Net Income increased 30%. Graduate course enrollment jumped 12%, and 8% with their Ross Medical school segment. Shares are down this morning, and after reporting news that the DOJ wouldn't be filing the lawsuit on submitting false claims to the Department of Education, the downward risk is more acceptable. As layoff news trickles through from the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/oIq7gmFe_k4/more-shopping-finally-with-devry.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2008/10/more-shopping-finally-with-devry.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-111085790442919374Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:49:00 +00002008-10-18T22:11:52.919-05:00INGING Groep NV (ING) is getting hammered this morning due to preliminary 3Q results coming out today. Time to pick up a position here at $10.29 / share. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/BPfOYydgbHM/ing-direct.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2008/10/ing-direct.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-4775989719374166883Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:10:00 +00002008-10-12T11:34:19.279-05:00MLHRDisclosure: I own MLHR Herman Miller (MLHR, a Ten Grand Chicago pick) has been making some news lately with its latest super chair called the, "Embody". Judging from the comments about this new skeleton like vertebrae, there will be die-hard fans shelling out $1,600 for this thing. The company has also struck a deal to sell a few of its older chairs through Costco, with the hopes of extending http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/i6v4d-wHLqU/herman-millers-embody-and-dealer.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)2http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2008/10/herman-millers-embody-and-dealer.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1169324450924445665.post-4060368582770598415Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:15:00 +00002008-10-10T22:24:26.750-05:00SPYSeptember 2008 will go down as one of the most gut wrenching rides in stock market history. I remember during the tech boom when many analysts said that the fundamentals were thrown out the window during those lofty times. These days, it seems as if fundamentals have also been thrown out the window, but in the sell side direction. The famous words of economist John Maynard Keynes ring so true http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tengrandchicago/fAlW/~3/RNj6m09ThEc/reaching-for-bottom.htmldt@tengrandchicago.com (DT)0http://www.tengrandchicago.com/2008/10/reaching-for-bottom.html