Mechanical Investing for January 2007

Posted by Michael on January 3rd, 2007 filed in Finances

Well, I *was* going to trade yesterday, but the markets were closed. Flags are flying at half-mast, and I assume it’s because we’re mourning for former President Ford and not for Saddam Hussein.

Let’s check the numbers -

Last 4 weeks: +0.5%
Last 3 months: +3.7%
Last 12 months: +1.1% (Dow was +16.3% for 2006 which surprised everyone, I think)
Year to date: +0.0% (Dow is +0.0% ytd from 12,463)
Annualized Return: +14.0%

Holding for another month:

Ticker	Bought	Now	Months	Return
AKS	$16.49	$16.69	1	+1.2%	AK Steel Holding Corp. From the Peg_Minimalist screen.
BAB	$97.47	$106.00	1	+8.6%	British Airways plc. I still own some airplanes! From the TREPPE screen.
KELYA	$28.64	$29.52	2	+3.1%	Kelly Services Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen.
MCY	$53.85	$53.88	1	+0.0%	Mercury General Corp. I’m going to cruise it up and down this’a road. From the LPE_YLD screen.
SWY	$31.20	$33.80	4	+8.3%	Safeway Inc. From the H52EarnPS screen.
WM	$44.39	$45.74	1	+3.0%	Washington Mutual. From the LPE_YLD screen.

Selling these:

Ticker	Bought	Sold	Months	Return
ATI	$93.41	$88.80	1	-4.9%	Allegheny Technologies Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen.
BRCD	$9.09	$8.33	1	-8.4%	Brocade Communications Systems Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen.
IFSIA	$15.37	$14.89	1	-3.1%	Interface Inc. From the Peg_Minimalist screen.
NTY	$35.81	$40.17	1	+12.2%	NBTY Inc. From the Screamers screen.
OSTE	$5.77	$5.38	1	-6.8%	Osteotech Inc. From the Screamers screen.
STA	$51.26	$54.05	1	+5.4%	St. Paul Travelers Companies Inc. From the TREPPE screen.

New stocks for this month:

Ticker	Bought	Sold	Return
CGB	$33.50	$N/A	N/A%	CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. From the RSPeg2 screen.
JAS	$24.53	$N/A	N/A%	Jo-Ann Stores. My wife says they have nice clothes. From the Screamers screen.
KMX	$54.20	$N/A	N/A%	CarMax Inc. From the Screamers screen.
MDR	$48.50	$N/A	N/A%	McDermott International Inc. From the Peg_Minimalist screen.
MRO	$88.85	$N/A	N/A%	Marathon Oil Corp. Funny, I’ve held this in Aug 2005 and Sept 2006 for a loss. Third time’s a charm, maybe. From theTREPPE screen.
SKX	$33.95	$N/A	N/A%	Skechers USA Inc. Shoes! From the RSPeg2 screen.

6/3 Options:

Ticker	Bought	Sold	Months	Return
.QEICL	$2.60	$2.31	3	-11.1%	SEICT (S E I Inv Corp) Mar 60 Calls. Sold.
.TDG	$0.89	$1.54	3	+73.0%	T AT&T Apr 35 Calls. Sold!
.MEHDV	$0.5722	$0.60	2	+4.8%	MEH Apr 12.5 Calls. Will sell in early February.
.ATIDQ	$6.60	$11.12	2	+68.5%	ATI Apr 85 Calls. Sold early since it’s lost momentum.
.RFYFJ	$13.00	$7.80	1	-40%	RIMM Research in Motion June 150 Calls. Not looking good, is it? Will sell in early March.
.QTCGE	$13.00	$2.45	1	-81.1%	TeleTech Holdings Inc. TTEC July 25 Calls. Yuck. Will sell in early March.