Say Cheeeese!

Something to keep an eye on now that we're in the fast food business... falling dairy prices could mark increased profits!  

"Cheese is the largest component of the pizza and when cheese prices come down that is a positive for our business," said Lynn Liddle, a spokeswoman for Domino's Pizza (DPZ). Liddle said that the ultimate impact will depend on whether dairy prices sustain their recent declines. "What we hope for is a sustained moderation," she said.

See Full Article here

Why It Hurts

This is a great piece as to why BAC is taking a beating and what it means to the financial sector. If you voted for us to keep BAC last Sunday, you should read the article to understand the effects our primary investment is having on the entire U.S. economy.

Everything We Touch Turns To Dirt

BAC down to $10.62/s today. WTF!

Ever since Barry Obama was elected, we've continued to decline. I'm blaming him for this mess.

Purchase tomorrow

Fellas, per our meeting today, we've decided to invest in BAC and DPZ tomorrow.  Both stocks are trading slightly up in after hours trading.  I think Jim has entered a market order for tomorrow, and what I want to know is do you guys think we should enter a limit order instead at a lower price.  I look forward to hearing everyones opinions before the market opens tomorrow.

It's the first of the monnnnttthhhhh!!

Ok - I promise this is my last stock pick for the week, but I think the opportunity is good and the timing may be right with earnings set to release in the first week of February.

My next pick up for discussion is Rent-A-Center (RCII - http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:RCII).  For obvious reasons, I have a hunch that when earnings are released we'll find that RCII will annouce higher than expected sales and earnings over the holidays, much like rival Aarons.  RCII thrives on a pay as you go, rent-to-own business model that is targeted towards lower income families with poor credit.  Where do you think they bought their 60" Flat Screen for Christmas?  

I consider this to be a moderately risky stock pick, with good potential to pay off within a month, currently trading at mid $17's, the company has positive cash flow, and cash in the bank.  I'd like to open it up for discussion with the group.

"I bought that sh*t at rent-a-center!"

Off To Never Neverland

"Well ACUS, it was great meeting you. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." - the boys at the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations

Mikey's Pick

My pick for this next meeting is TYCO. It is a strong global company that does bussiness all over the world. It deals in security, fire protection, valves and controls, and other industrial products. I think it is almosrt like a GE to us. It might not shoot up right away, but over time it is a strong stock to have. Here are some thoughts about the companies future:

The company is better positioned than in the past to respond to an increasingly challenging economic environment, and it has ample financial flexibility that reflects the company's substantial proportion of recurring revenue and its control over discretionary spending. Modest acquisition spending, together with proceeds from divestitures, has helped to maintain stable debt levels despite $1 billion of share repurchases in fiscal 2008.

We expect revenue and margins to decline in FY 2009, reflecting the downturn in the US construction market, declining steel prices and the appreciation of the US dollar against major international currencies. Nevertheless, we expect Tyco International’s increasing exposure in emerging economies, geographical diversity and strong order book to relatively limit the full impact of the US recession. We expect top-line and margins to recover marginally from FY 2010, given we anticipate a recovery in the US construction sector and softening of the current economic downturn.

Survey Says...

Gentlemen we've taken our shots these last two quarters, but things appear to be looking up. Although I hate Germany for obvious reasons, our fellow financial brethren have recognized the moves we've made and have identified our organization as one on the up and up.

Theta Mutual has spoken and throughout Europe, the trend seems to be catching on.

Get the door... It's Domahogs!

Fellas, fellas, fellas.  What if I told you that you could buy a share of an american legacy for less than the cost of one of their large pizzas?  Even better, what if I told you that their P/E ratio at 5 is lower than it's been in, oh say, forever???  Well get ready - because my 2nd stock pick this quarter is Dominoes Pizza (DPZ - http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:DPZ).  We're looking at a fast food staple that will be around for at least another 100 years here, it's a franchise that's expanding globally, much like McDonalds, but is much less expensive to own (perfect for the ThetaMutual budget).

Dominoes isn't settling to be just a pizza provider, they are looking to expand into other revenue sources now - and they are taking on Jarod and Subway head on.  We all know how awful Subway is, we've all been victim to a subway sub with 2 slices of turkey on it - it won't be easy, but as they grab market share from Subway they will continue adding to their profits.  If you read some of their recent advertising campaigns you'll see it's no secret who they are after - they blatantly are calling out Subway in them, going as far as to tell people to go out, buy their sub, and if they don't like it better than subway they will refund you their money.

The stock has a 52 week high of $15 and change, and in 2007 was trading in the low $30's.

I propose we look into a position this quarter of about 25% of our dues for investment into Domahogs, with a target price of $12-$13/share within the next 12 months.  I also propose that we set a buy price in the mid to low $4's, rather than buy in at it's current price in the mid $5's.

Roll It, Light It, Pass It

My preferred pick is another Brazilian company traded on the NYSE- Votorantim Celulose e Papel (VCP).

VCP harvests wood pulp from forests, sells most of the material to other businesses and uses about 20% of the remaining pulp to manufacture its own specialty paper products for purchase. VCP produces carbon paper, art surfaces and high-end stationary with their pulp product, although it only makes up a small percentage of their revenue. Last year, VCP executed an asset exchange with global power International Paper (IP), acquiring land and mature forest in exchange for an established processing plant. VCP also has stakes in financial and other material ventures, but focuses primarily on pulp processing.

On paper, VCP is attractive. It is owned in established mutual funds like the Fidelity Latin America Fund and Wall Street heartthrob American Funds New World Fund. VCP is a division of The Votorantim Group, a large business cluster throughout Latin America.

I motion that we scoop up a dozen shares, much like the ELP acquisition. VCP is uneffected by domestic economic concerns the U.S. is facing and Theta Mutual has done well in Brazil. A small investment won't break our budget and it invests us in an industry we haven't touched.

I look forward to hearing details on each of your picks and growing our portfolio on Sunday.

up up down down left right left right a b select start

What's up gents - hope everyone is fully recovered from the New Year hangover and ready to get down business on the 11th. 2008 is in the books... we've made some progress, we've made some blunders, but i think we've learned a lot in a year. I also think this coming year is going to be a great year for ThetaMutal - so lets pull ourselves out of the red and into the mutha f'n black.

My stock pick for the 1st quater is Activision Blizzard (ATVI). These guys are a video game company responsible for great games like Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft etc. As of now their stock is trading at 8.75 which is real close to their 52 wk low. Analysis believe the drop in their price recently has do with a combination of Best Buy (who carry a majority of their games) predicting decreased profits next quater, Circuit City declaring bankruptsy and Nintendo Wii having a very strong holiday season. I believe this recent drop is only temporary and by picking it up now - we will be getting in on it at a great price.

The bottom line is that these guys make great video games - Guitar Hero and Call of Duty are some of the best video games i've ever played. Not to mention all the PC gamer people obsessed with Warcraft. I don't really see the market for video games dying out anytime soon and as long as these guys still keep putting out great games and keep up with technology, they should profit. This may be a stretch, but if you think of the economy the way it is, people are spending more time at home instead of going out and spending money which in turn could lead to increased sales in home entertainment, like video games and big screen tvs.

So I'm proposing we get in now while its low at $8.75 and wait for it rebound to the say the $15 range then dump it for a nice profit. Sounds easy enough...

"No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it off to forced conscious expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten."

BACk that Ass Up! - Patricks Pick for Q1 09 investment

Fellas, it's that time of the year again where we dish out picks and choose those that will go on to be ThetaMutual strongholds.  Sometimes you have to look at your own portfolio and especially in a time like this look for those with the greatest value.  Looking through our portfolio, I can't help but say that I think we need to add to our position in Bank of America (BAC).  Think about it - this is a bank that can't fail, it's recent fall in price is most likely attributed to the completion of the acquisition of Merrill Lynch - but we need to look at the glass half full... that acqusition is even more of a reason why the US would never allow BAC to fail, it's now one of the worlds largest banks - but also owns an astounding percentage of US mortgages, in addition to another one of the best brand names in banking with Merrill Lynch.

We currently don't have a strong position in BAC, and our average price I believe is around $19.  By jumping in at current prices ($14.30), we stand to average down our price significantly and be poised for even greater returns by the end of 2009.  My motion is to invest between 25-40% of our dues into BAC, with an expected target price of $29/share - a piece of cake.

Jim, just transferred my quarterly dues over to you, see you guys on Sunday - I'm sure mikey will have tons of food and drink and strippers for everyone!

"I read this article a while back, that said that Microsoft employs more millionaire secretary's that any other company in the world. They took stock options over Christmas bonuses. It was a good move. I remember there was this picture, of one of the groundskeepers next to his Ferrari. Blew my mind. you see shit like that, and it just plants seeds, makes you think its possible, even easy. And then you turn on the TV, and there's just more of it. The $87 Million lottery winner, that kid actor that just made 20 million o his last movie, that internet stock that shot through the roof, you could have made millions if you had just gotten in early, and that's exactly what I wanted to do: get in. I didn't want to be an innovator any more, i just wanted to make the quick and easy buck, i just wanted in. The Notorious BIG said it best: "Either you're slingin' crack-rock, or you've got a wicked jump-shot." Nobody wants to work for it anymore. There's no honor in taking that after school job at Mickey Dee's, honor's in the dollar, kid. So I went the white boy way of slinging crack-rock: I became a stock broker"