The Great Gate's Stock Picks

[thegreatgate]

Thought I'd create a thread where I can track my plays. It helps to have a place to put thoughts into writing. And it'll be interesting to see how I do. I'll call my buys and sells to the penny, post % gains/losses, and maybe include some minor observations. Here is an example of how I would like to organize this thread:

03/13/2009
Bought XYZ at $100

03/17/2009
Sold XYZ at $115 (+15% gain)

I'll be "brrwing" a ton of plays from other SMC members.

Might I mention that I picked a very lucky day to create this thread: Friday the 13th!

[greencat]

Originally Posted by thegreatgate

Thought I'd create a thread where I can track my plays. It helps to have a place to put thoughts into writing. And it'll be interesting to see how I do. I'll call my buys and sells to the penny, post % gains/losses, and maybe include some minor observations. Here is an example of how I would like to organize this thread:

03/13/2009
Bought XYZ at $100

03/17/2009
Sold XYZ at $115 (+15% gain)

I'll be "brrwing" a ton of plays from other SMC members.

Might I mention that I picked a very lucky day to create this thread: Friday the 13th!

Looking forward to it.

[thegreatgate]

OK....Time to get this thing in motion and hopefully I won't embarass myself too badly . As my money is all tied up right now these picks are just "for fun", to see what would happen.

1) DFS (Discover Financial Services) at $6.82

Discover's first-quarter net income rose 48% on a gain related to an antitrust settlement as the credit-card company cut its quarterly dividend 67%, a move that will save it $80 million a year. The company also reported credit woes continued to mount, with delinqnencies and loan-loss provisions rising sharply. Chairman and Chief Executive David Nelms said the company continues to strengthen its balance sheet amid the economic downturn. He added Discover's capital position was already strong, but the dividend cut to 2 cents a share was a move out of caution. Several other big banks that have also slashed their dividends in recent weeks have expressed similar sentiments. Shares rose 1.5% to $7.35 a share in premarket trading. Through Wednesday, the stock was down 24% this year. Last week, the company got $1.2 billion from the federal government after it converted to a bank holding company. It joined a host of financial firms - from rival American Express Co. (AXP) to lender GMAC LLC - that have sought bank status to make them eligible for government funding under the Treasury Department's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

2) TXCO at $0.388

TXCO Resources Inc., formerly The Exploration Company of Delaware, Inc., is an independent oil and gas enterprise with interests in the Maverick Basin of southwest Texas, the Fort Trinidad area in east Texas, the onshore Gulf Coast region and the Marfa Basin of Texas, the Midcontinent region of western Oklahoma, and shallow Gulf of Mexico waters. Its primary business operation is exploration, exploitation, development, production and acquisition of predominately onshore domestic oil and gas reserves.

[thegreatgate]

Originally Posted by thegreatgate

OK....Time to get this thing in motion and hopefully I won't embarass myself too badly .

2) TXCO at $0.388

TXCO is hanging around 56 cents right now. That is about a 44% gain for the day which I will take.

Bought TXCO at 0.388
Sold TXCO at 0.56 (+44%)

[Volatile22]

Originally Posted by thegreatgate

TXCO is hanging around 56 cents right now. That is about a 44% gain for the day which I will take.

Bought TXCO at 0.388
Sold TXCO at 0.56 (+44%)

No embarassment for you, congrats man! Not only that but you bought pretty much at the day low and sold at pretty much the day high. Solid!

[thegreatgate]

Here's what I got so far:

1) March 19: Bought/Sold TXCO at $0.388 / $0.56 (+44% gain)

I only pretend bought this one, but still:

2) March 19: Bought DFS at $6.82

Still in DFS at $6.82. Looks like they have fallen victim to poor timing for releasing their earnings report (yesterday). Although Discover's first-quarter net income rose 48% the bears were present in the financial sector and so DFS fell with the rest. Current PPS: $5.61

3) March 20: Bought ACAS at $1.09 <-----stolen play from another thread

ACAS, with $14 billion in capital resources under management, is a publicly traded private equity firm and global asset manager. American Capital, both directly and through its global asset management business, originates, underwrites and manages investments in middle market private equity, leveraged finance, real estate and structured products. American Capital and its affiliates invest from $5 million to $ 400 million per company in North America and €5 million to €100 million per company in Europe. Since its August 1997 IPO, American Capital and the funds it manages have invested approximately $32 billion in over 515 portfolio companies. Our diverse portfolio is invested in virtually every industry sector. We have over 150 investment professionals in 10 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.

4) March 20: Bought KFN at $0.50

KKR is a leading global alternative asset manager with two primary business segments: private equity and fixed income. KKR has more than 600 employees and offices in New York, Menlo Park, San Francisco, Houston, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney and Mumbai
KFN Website

[thegreatgate]

1) March 19: Bought/Sold TXCO at $0.388 / $0.56 (+44% gain)
Current PPS: $0.45

2) March 19: Bought DFS at $6.82
Current PPS: $6.18 ( - 9%)

3) March 20: Bought ACAS at $1.09
Current PPS: $1.80 (+65%)

4) March 20: Bought KFN at $0.50
Current PPS: $0.69 (+38%)

5) March 24: Bought DRYS at $5.65
Current PPS: $5.50

If you are looking for some after hours excitement, DRYS is the place to be.
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) announced today that it will release its results for the fourth quarter and year end 2008 after the market closes in New York on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. Conference Call and Webcast: Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at 9:00 a.m.

[thegreatgate]

1) March 19: Bought / Sold TXCO at $0.388 / $0.56 (+44% gain)
Current PPS: $0.49

2) March 19: Bought DFS at $6.82
Current PPS: $6.34 ( - 7%)

3) March 20: Bought ACAS at $1.09
SOLD at $2.04 (+87%)
Current PPS: $2.14

4) March 20: Bought KFN at $0.50
Current PPS: 77 cents (+54%) <-----had a day high of 97 cents

5) March 24: Bought DRYS at $5.65
Current PPS: $4.65 ( - 18%)

[thegreatgate]

UPDATE:

1) March 19: Bought TXCO at $0.388
March 19: Sold TXCO at $0.56 (+44% gain)
Current PPS: $0.52

2) March 19: Bought DFS at $6.82
Current PPS: $7.14 ( +4.7%)

3) March 20: Bought ACAS at $1.09
March 25: Sold at $2.04 (+87%)
Current PPS: $2.23

4) March 20: Bought KFN at $0.50
Current PPS: 80 cents (+60%)

5) March 24: Bought DRYS at $5.65
Current PPS: $5.10 ( - 9.5%)

6) Solar Energy
I'm thinking about getting into a "solar energy" stock soon to spice up my portfolio. Instead of picking one I might get TAN, which is an ETF that tracks them all. About TAN. I was also looking at CSIQ , Canadian Solar Inc.
Current PPS TAN: $7.26 (+17.48%)
Current PPS CSIQ: $6.01 (+24.43%)

[thegreatgate]

Figured I'm already in Dry Ships and CSIQ sounds like "Sea-Sick" so I couldn't resist! Maybe they are a match made in heaven.
Got into CSIQ at $6.10/share.