6-Month check on stocks

Similar to how Barron’s gave themselves a report card on their 1st half of 2011 stock picks, I tabulated the return of the stocks that I am invested in from Jan 3rd to Jun 30th of this year.  Stock     Price change XOM     +10.36% PFE      +18.87% WTR        -1.79% JNJ         +7.78% ADP      +13.78% LLTC       -3.45% INTC       +8.04% Assuming equal [...]

Berkshire And Snap-on Revisited

A few months ago, I estimated Berkshire Hataway’s DCF stock price at the improbably precise figure of $113,046.04 when the stock was at $127,850. Since February 14th, the stock has fallen about 10.5%, to around $114k and change. I think it’s now a buy, especially with low oil prices. Snap-On hit my price target a [...]

DCF estimates for Snap-On Tools and Berkshire Hathaway

I did DCF estimates for Snap-On Tools (sna) and Berkshire Hathaway (brk-a) over the weekend.  I get $55.61 for SNA and $113,046.04 for BRK.A.  As if my estimates were that precise.  SNA traded at 59.01 on 2/11, meaning I’m valuing the stock 7.2% below the close on Friday.  BRK.A traded at $127,400 on 2/12/11, meaning [...]

Illustration of compound interest

If you bought 100 shares of Exxon 35 years ago for $2.77 per share, and reinvested the dividends,you’d have $230,944 today. source. That’s an annual return of 19.2% compounded, exclusive of taxes. ** update ** if you bought Exxon on Dec. 31st 1976, you would have had a compounded return of 17.1%. Berkshire Hathaway, by [...]

DCF Estimates By Request

By request, I did DCF estimates for Jet Blue – JBLU and Steve Madden. Jet Blue looks like it’s a buy, but be careful. One of my friends described investment in an airline as ‘controlled descent into poverty’ Warren Buffett lost a ton of money in USAir in the ’90s. That said, I know one [...]

My Stock Portfolio Performance

Here are the stocks I’m currently invested in with their performance tabulated: Stock Annualized Performance YTD XOM 10.86% 4.40% PFE -3.08% -8.08% WTR -1.36% 23.24% LLTC 33.01% 12.34% JNJ 0.16% 0.16% ADP 12.29% 12.29% I bought two stocks this year, fewer than last year. A long-term (11 year) investment, Exxon is up modestly for the [...]

DCF Analysis for Coach

Having accompanied someone to Coach outlets in my time, I decided to look at Coach as an investment because the stores seem to be like the Apple store, except perhaps busier. Their gross margins are enormous: 72-73%. Everything they sell is made in China*. On the last conference call they specifically said they are forecasting [...]

how I pick stocks and my investment strategy

I have a colleague who is somewhat wealthy (at least compared to me). His wife confided in me that they were not confident in investing their money by themselves. I recommended a fee-only investment adviser. My friend asked how I pick stocks, and what my investment strategy is. The best introduction to investing that I’ve [...]