Oh My God! They Killed Kenny!

So Ken Lewis remains the CEO, but is out as Bank Of America Chairman. Will BAC dip a bit? Perhaps. I'm anticipating that the stock rebounds and creeps up, as this is a decision that the shareholders made to benefit their (er, our) position. Keep 'em crossed!

SafetyNET?

Josabi, many investors put a strict stop-loss on their investments at around 10%. Do you have any insight as to why HealthNet has dropped 15% in the last 30 days? Is it cause for concern, should we be worried, or is it just normal volatility with this stock?

Did You Say "Buy?"

Quietly loading their guns is our conservative pillar of American commerce, GE. Although we have no money in our account, consider eyeballing them leading up to our next meeting to see if reupping makes sense. Or perhaps, we can just buy a box of toothpicks, which won't lose value year over year.

DPZ 6% Returns

I know the cash value isn't much, but we can lock in 6% returns on DPZ today after paying commissions. We can always reload on a dip, but at the end of the day 14 shares isn't going to make us rich anyways.

Thoughts?

Calling All Cars

It may be cool to catch the HealthNet Inc. conference call next month. I know Patrick has sat in on them before, but it sheds an interesting light on the direction the company is heading.

Since our group has crossed into the 4-digit threshold, it's important that we learn more and more about this process as our purse grows to the next landmark, $5k!

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090407005266&newsLang=en

"Domi-hogs this is Mikey!"

I can see it now... running the show like a Saturday night at DP Dough in '01!

What a great way offer an incentive to savvy businessmen who may find themselves laid off in the current job environment. HOT CHEESE UP FRONT!

http://sev.prnewswire.com/restaurants/20090407/DE9562007042009-1.html

In Your Facebook!

Hey is it too late to change my pick? I'll tag myself in this, write it on my wall and stick this bad boy in my profile!

In all seriousness, I anticipate this debuts WAY overpriced, the investors short it and day traders and regular users who think it's a great idea get stuck holding their mouses like (Rizzi) Blackstone.

Thoughts? Anticipated day one closing share value?

Short Bus with AMEX & CAT

I have to choices also, and its quite odd that just like JC, I like Caterpillar even though it is out of our suggested range. I think we can definitely make money on the short term and probably the long term too. I dont see the stock rising in to the 100.00's, but we can buy below thirty and sell near fifty. I agree with much of what JC said, including that CAT will not go under. the construction plan that Obama has financed, I think they are in for a decent growth, as the industry as a whole should start to pick back up. By going with the best name in earth moving and combine that with Obama's plan to dump money into that industry in particular, CAT has seen its low point. I think we should buy right under 30 and sell at 50. I know, its out of the range we discussed, but the stock is up over the past 30 days, as low as 22.00 and as high as about 31.00

AXP-I know we are already into the finicials, but this sector is set to make a comeback before most other industries out there, so why not jump on the short bus for a few stops to pick up some coin? This is a short term stock also. It has been as low as 9.75 and as high as 52.00ish. Sitting at 14.00 right now, we stand a decent chance to make good short term money on a stock that hasnt been under 10.00 since the mid 90's. Unlike other, credit card companys most of AMEX's customers have very solid credit ratings, thus they are less likely to loan to bad creditors resulting in less risky investments. However, those who do default on their AMEX, do typically have large balances, not 250 or 500. So taking a hit, could still hurt the company. since most customers have great credit, they are more likely to not file bankrupcy or never attempt to pay the balance off because they dont care about their credit. Since AMEX is tied into many large business, unlike other cards out there, they are going to get paid on time with money that has already been budgeted. I think we should wait for the stock to dip to the 12-13 range before picking it up and sell it in the 30's. i have no doubt that this stock will surpass the 30's, but i think we should dump it before then and go for the sure profit.

thunder CATs HOOO!!!!

What's up fellas? Sorry about the late pick - i almost forgot the deadline.... I actually have two picks... The first pick does not quite fit into our price range of 15 - 20 per share, but i think its a good buy at the price its at. Caterpillar Inc. is trading right now around $29. This stock has been up as high as $85 this year (low of 21). The down world economy is the primary reason for CAT being so low right now. Construction projects are at a low point right now, but its not going to last. It won't be intimidate, but eventually construction is going to pick up, not just nationally but globally as well. CAT is the biggest supplier of construction equipment in the world - this is not company that is going to go bankrupt. This a stock that is not going to make us money in the short term, but will make us money in the long term. I know its kinda high priced, but we do have some extra coin in the money market. I have more to say about this that my sway you, but to save email space, i will refrain until our meeting.

If the price of CAT scares u guys, i have second pick as well. Symantec - as you guys probably know, symantec makes anti-virus software. They are trading at 15.30 right now - lower than their compediter McAfree which is up in the 30s. The reason i feel they may be able to make us some money is the rise in computer fraud and viruses that may come through as a result of a down ecomony. People loose their jobs and computer fruad increases. People are desprate - they will try anything to make a buck (phishing scams, spam, viruses, identity theft etc.). The need for anti virus software for major companies is going to be greater and greater. These guys are top notch. I think their stock will rise in the comming year.

In closing, don't sleep on AFLAC - its trading at 18.75 right now. With the rising price of healthcare and the decreasing bennifits, more people are going to turn to these guys for extra coverage. Unless your in the union, your company's health care package has probably taken a hit due to increased costs and premiums. Aflac is cheap option for people to get some extra money if they get hurt.

Thats it - i'm out. I'll see u all on Sunday. Think these over and i'll field any questions u might have.

DON'T FORGET - MONEY IS DUE EOB TOMORROW.

-j crilla

Blue Balls

whats up fellas. My pick for this quarter is Jetblue, JBLU. It is trading at $3.64 right now. Obviously the airlines have taken a hit with the economy, but we all know they will bounce back. From what I have read, Jetblue is one of the most solid run airlines out there. We can get it at a really great price right. Check it out and let me know what you think. I am hitting the sack, and then going to bed. holla

ConAgra Foods - Patrick's Pick for Q2 2009

My pick for Q209 is ConAgra Foods (http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:CAG). ConAgra produces many brand name foods that you probably have bought before, like Chef Boyardee, Healthy Choice Meals, Davids Sunflower Seeds, Hunts Tomatoes, Egg Beaters, Marie Callendars Meals, Orville Redenbacher's, Pam, Slim Jim, etc. In addition to the above they also produce some items that are more popular in certain demographics - like Hebrew National Franks, a favorite of our jewish brothers, and Reddi Whip Whipped Cream - a favorite of (both for doing "whip-it's" and to make whipped cream sundaes on Weygands nuts!). As you can see they produce some very popular brands, and it's my belief that they are strong enough brands that people will continue to purchase even during a recession - they aren't overpriced, and they provide value. In addition I believe with the baseball season among us we'll see an increase in certain items above being bought in bulk for the next 6 months, which could help boost earnings. (by the way the above list was not at all an all-inclusive list, just popular names. They also produce brands like snack pack, swiss miss - the list goes on and on.)

CAG has stayed relatively consistent over the first quarter - up about 1.4% so far. The company is profitable and isn't in risk of bankruptcy - so I consider it safe play with little volatility. Currently trading around $16.70, my recommendation would be to buy on the next dip to around $15.50-$16/share. Looking at the past few months I hope we can achieve this buy target within the next couple weeks- but there's one thing we all should have learned by now.. patience.

I look forward to reading everyone's picks - Mr. Treasurer, you have my dues.

Bend Over- This Will Only Take A Minute

Guys good evening. When selecting a company, I began with an industry in the national spotlight. While some may consider health care investment a risky venture, I carefully selected a company that doesn't just focus on health plan services, but also facilitates government contracts.

In addition to the HMO and PPO plans that people like us are offered through our employers, Health Net, Inc., also administers coverage through Medicare, Medicaid and the VA. By integrating revenue streams into government programs, they are setting themselves up to succeed when Barry eventually gets to adjusting and tweaking America's health care system.

Health broker's require state-specific licenses and Health Net, Inc., can operate in all fifty. They bind coverage for 6.9 million clients. They have over 9,000 employees and they generated $15.4b in annual revenue last year.

Health Net, Inc. is trading at $14.32/s, nearly half of it's yearly high, and they just beat their 4Q estimates. I'm not going to propose fund allocation without hearing everyone's picks, but this is an established company servicing the private sector while providing aid to those needing government aid, which is guaranteed money.

Looking forward to hearing from you guys tonight and reupping this weekend.