Saturday, June 29, 2013

2Q'13 GDT::Portfolio Quickie Review

2Q'13 has ended. By a difference of only $3.52, iRobot (IRBT; robotics) came in #1 followed by Google (GOOG; informatics) at #2. Cray (CRAY; supercomputing) #3; Illumina (ILMN; genomics) #4 and Geeknet (GKNT; geeky retail) #5.

Rounding out the top 10: Yahoo! (YHOO; informatics) #6; Red Hat (RHT; open source software) #7; Bruker (BRKR; scientific equipment) #8; US Airways (LCC; air travel) #9; Hanger (HGR; medical devices) #10. 2Q'13 ended with Facebook (FB; informatics) #14.

The GDT::Portfolio will remain week until some of the following stocks move toward the top 15: Spire (SPIR; solar) #19; NeuroMetrix (NURO; medical devices) #20; StemCells (STEM; stem cells) #21; Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI; lithium batteries) #22; Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM; stem cells) #23. Mace Security (MACE; personal security products) at #12 needs to move into the top 10. Illumina, Red Hat, US Airways and Hanger need to drop out of the top 10. Amazon.com (AMZN), at #13, needs to become move into tier three of three.

I wrote the following at the end of 1Q'13...

Forecast: I refuse to believe that the NASDAQ's all-time high is going to be a 20th century event. In other words, I believe the NASDAQ will hit a new all-time high sometime in the 21st century. When will this happen? I haven't a clue. The last NASDAQ all-time high occurred with nine months left in the 20th century. It's possible that here in the 21st century the decade is the new century; however, we have been slow to make this transition. If we assume a score is the new century, then the NASDAQ's new all-time high could occur prior to the end of the current decade (i.e. 02020). Note: The NASDAQ closed 02013.03.28 at 3276.52. An increase from this level to its all-time high of 5132.52 will be a ~57% increase.

The NASDAQ ended 2Q'13 at 3403.25; i.e., up ~3.9% during the last three months.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Nanosphere (NSPH) Down, Up, Down, _____

Nanosphere (NSPH) has been having an interesting week. On Monday NPSH closed at $3.64. On Tuesday NSPH closed at $3.36, down 7.7% on heavy volume. On Wednesday NSPH closed at $3.54, up 5.4% of average volume. On Thursday NSPH closed at $3.31, down 6.5% on heavy volume. I don't know what's going on, but it could end of quarter portfolio adjustments.

Today (02013.06.28) ends 2Q'13 for the GDT::Portfolio and NSPH starts the day in the #10 spot.

[update::02013.06.29] The blank in the title can be filled in with DOWN. Yesterday (02013.06.28), NSPH closed at $3.07, down 7.25%. NSPH intra-day low yesterday was $3.00. Volume was a whopping 7.34 million shares, almost 10 times the trailing-3-month average. NSPH has ~55.8 million shares outstanding. 7.3M is ~13% of 55.8M. NSPH ended 2Q'13 at #11 in the GDT::Portfolio.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Bought Some More Facebook (FB) at 7.5 $Pi ($23.56)

Title from Stocks::Stuffer posting on 02013.06.16: "Facebook (FB) Buy Order Has Been Entered". The order was placed when FB was at $23.63 and the buy price was $23.56 (i.e. 7.5 $Pi).

Friday, June 21, 2013

iRobot (IRBT) and Mace Security (MACE) End a Bad Week Nicely

Today ended a bad week for many of the GDT::Portfolio stocks; however, iRobot (IRBT) and Mace Security (MACE) had good days today (02013.06.20).

IRBT closed at $38.00, up 1.71%, but trading volume was 9.5 times the trailing-3-month average. Some brokerage firm increased their IRBT target price to $45.

MACE closed at $0.435, up 14%+, on trading volume that was 12.8 times the trailing-3-month average. MACE made a new 52-week high today (02013.06.20).

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Red Hat (RHT) Reports 1Q'14 Results

Red Hat (RHT) reported 1Q'14 results after the market closed today (02013.06.19).
"The first quarter was a solid start to Fiscal 2014, with both revenue and profitability coming in above the high-end of our guidance. We delivered mid-teens revenue growth driven by customer demand for innovative open source technologies based on a high-value subscription model." -- Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO

I liked this: "Total cash, cash equivalents and investments as of May 31, 2013 was $1.22 billion after repurchasing approximately $179 million, or approximately 3.6 million shares, of common stock in the first quarter."

RHT closed on 02013.06.19 at $46.24. 52-week range: $44.92 - $60.00.

[update::02013.06.20] From this morning (02013.06.20): "Wells Fargo keeps an Outperform rating on the stock." RHT has been making new 52-week lows, so it has not been an 'outperforming' stock. Use of the word "keeps" implies Wells Fargo has had an 'outperform' rating on RHT for an interval of time. Via Google I found this from 02012:03.29: "Wells Fargo maintains an 'Outperform' on Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) price target range raised from $50-55 to $65-$70."

Will Amazon.com (AMZN) Ever Do Another Stock Split?

Amazon.com (AMZN) closed yesterday (02013.06.28) at $281.76. AMZN needs to go up $2.97 in order to hit a new 52-week. AMZN current 52-week high of $284.72 was on 02013.01.25 (i.e. almost five months ago). AMZN nearing $300 has me thinking its time for the company to execute a stock split. During the dot-com heydays of the late 1990s, AMZN split 2:1 on 01998.06.02; 3:1 on 01999.01.05; 2:1 on 01999.09.02. Stocks splits use to be a sign of bullishness, but these days--at least with respect to the stocks I follow--stock splits are a rarity.

To generate a Pi moment, I've placed a good-till-cancel order to sell one AMZN share at $314.16.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Hanger (HGR) Hits a New 52-Week High

Hanger (HGR) has been a great GDT::Portfolio stock and today (02013.06.18) HGR hit a new 52-week high. The market's having a good day; none the less, investors seemed to like this news: Hanger enters new 5-year credit agreement to refinance senior secured credit facilities; Expects annualized accretive impact of $0.12 to $0.13 per diluted share. I have a good-till-cancel order to sell some HGR at 11 $Pi ($34.56). HGR closed yesterday (02013.06.17) at $31.90 and today it's intra-day/new-52-week high has been $32.96.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Sold Some iRobot (IRBT) at 12 $Pi ($37.70)

iRobot (IRBT) spiked today (02013.06.17) to a new 52-week high and I had to sell some shares to generate a Pi moment. Placed an order to sell IRBT at 12 $Pi ($37.70; a dozen Pi dollars). The transaction got executed at $37.81.

Geeknet (GKNT) Wants To Buy GKNT Shares

Geeknet (GKNT) is one of the most important investments in GDT::Portfolio. Today (02013.06.17), Geeknet posted the following press release: Geeknet, Inc. Commences Self Tender Offer to Purchase up to 400,000 Shares. Geeknet believes GKNT shares are a good buy and the company has cash to buy shares. $12 - $14 is Geeknet's buy price interval.

GKNT closed yesterday (02013.06.16) at $13.00. This morning GKNT spiked to $14.04 on the news.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Facebook (FB) Buy Order Has Been Entered

I'm not a fan of holidays, but I like Father's Day.

Today, Sunday, 16 June 02013, I placed a good-till-cancel order to add to our FB investment at $23.56 per FB share. FB closed Friday ,02013.06.14, at $23.63. Despite lowering our average cost per share, our FB investment will still be underwater if the order is executed (transacted).

#PiMoment I was okay buying FB at $23.63, but wanted the buy price to be a multiple of Pi. 7 $Pi was $21.99 and 8 $Pi was $25.13. The buy price of $23.56 is 7.5 $Pi.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Facebook (FB) Remains a GDT::Portfolio Laggard

Facebook (FB) remains an underwater investment for us, but that's short-term. I remain bullish on FB long-term.

I read an article yesterday (02013.06.10) that had the following title: Facebook Is Cheaper Than Google, But Shouldn't Be, Analyst Says.

FB closed yesterday (02013.06.10) at $24.33 giving Facebook a market value of ~$58.83 billion. 52-week range: $17.55 - $33.45.

GOOG closed yesterday (02013.06.10) at $890.22 giving Google a market value of ~$295.34 billion. 52-week range: $556.52 - $920.60.

Right now I'd be content with Facebook's market value being half of Google's market value.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Bought Some More NeuroMetrix (NURO)

NeuroMetrix (NURO) dropped below $2 this morning, so I added to our NURO holdings buying a small number of shares at $2.00 per share. A few days earlier NeuroMetrix announced a "$5 Million Preferred Stock Placement". 52-week range: $1.84 - $5.10.

Stocks::Stuffer posting from 02013.04.15...

NeuroMetrix (NURO) tanked on 02013.04.15 (Boston bombings) and that caused my good-till-cancel buy at $2.20 order to be executed. There was NURO insider buying on 02013.03.11 at $2.39. NURO 52-week range: $1.98 - $5.10.

Friday, June 7, 2013

StemCells (STEM) -- More Cash Implies More Dilution

StemCells (STEM) announced the following on 02013.06.04: Under the terms of the agreement, Lincoln Park will immediately purchase $3.0 million in shares of StemCells common stock at a purchase price of $1.823 per share, which was the average of the prior ten trading days' volume weighted average price. Furthermore, for a period of three years, the Company has the right, at its sole discretion, to sell additional amounts up to $27.0 million of common stock to Lincoln Park subject to certain limitations.

STEM closed yesterday (02013.06.06) at $1.84. 52-week range: $0.61 - $2.67.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Nanosphere (NSPH) Continues To Go Up

I'm still getting caught up after ignoring the stock market on 2013.05.023.

02013.05.28: Nanosphere (NSPH) spiked to a new 52-week high of $4.49.

02013.05.31 headline: Nanosphere coverage assumed with a Buy at Jefferies at theflyonthewall.com(Fri, May 31)

02013.06.03 headline: Nanosphere to Present at the Jefferies 2013 Global Healthcare Conference Marketwired(Mon, Jun 3)

02013.06.05: Nanosphere presented at the Jefferies 2013 Global Healthcare Conference.

02013.06.06 today: NSPH closed at $4.03.

Red Hat (RHT) Making New 52-Week Lows (Is it oversold?)

Red Hat (RHT) has been making new 52-week lows this week. Yesterday, 02013.06.05, RHT hit a new 52-week low of $45.55 before closing at $45.70. RHT 52-week high: $60.00. RHT remains a pricey stock, but I don't know why it is deserving of being in the new 52-week lows list. Yesterday, DividendChannel.com posted to Forbes.com a technical analysis titled: Oversold Conditions For Red Hat (RHT). I don't follow DividendChannel.com, but according to them RHT has a RSI of 29.7 and that implies the stock is oversold. Via DividendChannel.com: "Relative Strength Index, or RSI, measures the momentum of a stock on a scale of zero to 100. A stock is considered to be oversold if the RSI reading falls below 30."

Stewart Enterprises (STEI) To Be Acquired

Stewart Enterprises (STEI) announced, on 02013.05.29 (a week ago) that it was being acquired by Service Corp. Intl. for $13.25 a share. It appears as though numerous shareholders are not happy with this news. Here are three example headlines: SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Law Office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC Announces Investigation of Stewart Enterprises, Inc. and Attention STEI Shareholders: The Proposed Acquisition of Stewart Enterprises Inc by Service Corporation International Under Investigation by The Young Law Firm and Stewart Enterprises, Inc. Stockholders Seeking More Money, Information in Buyout Should Contact Deans & Lyons Law Firm. I've always joked that I would either die a STEI shareholder or be a STEI shareholder when the company went belly up. Our STEI investment is minimal; therefore, I'm indifferent with respect to this transaction.