HP + Palm = Fist In The Groin

Looks like HP is the leading candidate to scoop Palm, spiking the stock 25% today alone. Whoops.

Have we decided whether to call a phone meeting this weekend to figure out what to do about international investments or money market allocation? We keep recycling ideas about making moves and seizing opportunities without taking initiative.

I motion that we get picks to the blog by Saturday night and plan a Sunday AM call. The stock doesn't need to be new to the group, but at least present a compelling arguement for us to purchase. I know we all have things going on, but this is real money we're investing and leaving it on the table is neither productive or progressive.

Second the motion for a 10a call on Sunday? Alternative?

NBG

We missed the boat on this one and its my fault. i was on the fence and would have been vote 3. I dont know about trying to get in at this point. If anything, maybe it will come back down under 3.00 and we can get in at that point?

PWX

Fellas, PWX has climbed big time today up nearly 8%. I motion we sell and look for a re-entry when it dips again. PWX recently reported a loss and is trading up only on news that perhaps their loss wasn't as severe as it's peers in the industry. We can lock in about 15% in profits now after commissions and I feel as though we'll have another chance to buy back again in the coming months to ride this train up again.

IMAX-ed out

Iron Man 2 is the summer's most anticipated blockbuster and it's set to be released on IMAX. Check please!

Discovery Zone?

Now that we have a good amount of cash in the money market, what do you guys think about revisiting Discovery Communications (DISCA). It hasn't risen too much since I suggested it (31 to 36/s). I still think there is huge potential for this stock to rise even higher. As I'm writing this, i am watching insects on LIFE scurry around and collect food for their young larva... 1 of 33.8 MILLION people who tune in. Oprah is a money machine and i'm willing to roll the dice on anything she's involved in...I think there is money to be made here.

Thoughts? We could get in with about 15 shares and still have 100 buck in the money market?

Littering and, littering and...

Guys I checked Zecco and didn't see a trade execution. Is EMC gone? It's up 4% since we voted to dump it. Confirmation?

We can move IMAX right now for a 7% gain including buy/sell commission and GE for 15% profit.

YOUR thoughts?

Motion In The Ocean

Gents as we enter our third year of playing the market together, it's a pivotal time to look over our should and revisit our vision statement. If our goal is truly to increase our value every half-decade, I motion that we sell our stake in EMC and bank a 20% post-commission profit.

In the last five years, EMC spent only a brief period above $20/s and that was the time leading up to the Presidential election when aspirations of an inspired economy drove up the market. Jim introduced us to the company as an undervalued leader in the tech sector. We climbed on board and picked up the stock at $15.90 (including buy/sell commissions).

Months later, we watched the company fall substantially to $9.98. Most of our holdings were negatively impacted by the credit freeze and market conditions but, over time, EMC clawed back from that low to touch it's 52-week high this week.

In unrelated news yesterday, the SEC filed a major suit against Wall Street behemoth Goldman Sachs Group. Although GS came out right away and denied the charges, its stock fell a punishing 12% with the news, causing the financial sector to dip as well (BAC dropped 6%). As scandal detail unfolds early next week, expect investor skepticism to keep activity low and for blue chip values to shrink as a result. If GS, the darling of Wall Street for not taking TARP money and continuing to turn massive profits through the recession, is found to be tainted, expect another lull in trading and a hit to our portfolio. There is no better time, with EMC at a 2-year high, for us to bank our profits, sell our stake and prepare to rebuy HNT, EMC or BAC as the GS story unfolds.

Do you dis/agree and why? I'm interested to hear feedback from each of you and creative feedback other than "second that" or "yes" is strongly encouraged.

Bank And Move On?

Since TM has been banking money in an effort to get back to our mission statement and double our money every five years, what do you guys think about banking the 20% profits in EMC and selling it?

Happy trails HNT

Just a quick update.

HNT was sold today for 22.8/s. We made just over 50% on our investment.

Not too shabby.

MIkes Pick

whats uo boys. I dont have time to write a huge thing cus I am running late for work..my pick is TIE

Titanium Metals Corporation

check it out and I will send a more in depth email tomorrow.

IMAX

Guys I like IMAX, the 3D movie theater technology company currently trading in the mid-$17/s. Traditionally known for documentary and educational movies, IMAX 3D released four feature films on their screens last year. Among those was the most expensive film ever made, resulting in the biggest box office earnings ever. Since Avatar, over a dozen films have been contracted this year alone, boosting the stock 25% YTD.

An IMAX movie is about $12, verusus $8 for a traditional theater- an amount that most children, teens and parents can swallow for the experience. With the continued success of Pixar and animated films with the advancement of such action films as Clash Of The Titans, this sector will continue to thrive.

Aloha mofos!

My pick for Q2 is Hawaiian Holdings (HA) - who's principal business it's ownership of Hawaiian Airlines.

You might be wondering.. "why buy into airlines right now?" "didn't this guy say buying JetBlue was an awful idea 6 months ago?" Well my answer is simple... Hawaiian is one of the only profitable airlines operating.. and not just barely profitable like Southwest and JetBlue who average a few cents per share in profits -- Hawaiian Holdings reported a staggering $2.23 per share profit in 2009 in a down year! The only other airline I have found in that ballpark is Alaska Air, a similarly sized airline trading at a steep $41+ per share or about 12 times earnings. To contrast - HA trades at only about 3 times earnings, indicating it is under priced and ready for a bump.

Hawaiian Air execs are hungry for growth, with expansion hopes to Asia in 2010 and beyond -- they are looking for ways to cut costs and becoming a bigger player in the international stage. here is a quote from the CEO -

Dunkerley acknowledged he is constantly reordering a "wish list" of future destinations for the airline, but is keeping his eyes primarily along the Asian-Pacific Rim, which has the greatest potential for fast growth.

"We are planning for the future," he said. "Having been able to earn profits throughout this recessionary period, we've been able to stay on our long-term growth and development path, [while] our competitors have had to take a fairly substantial number of routes off the map." more on this article here.

With the recent chatter of Airline mergers we will be seeing many airlines getting a boost in confidence from investors, and I think this is a great value stock for a profitable airline with an appetite for growth (and the cash to fuel it).

See you guys on Sunday

ISCO

My pick for this qtr is International Stem Cell Corp (ISCO). I know we have talked about getting some biotech stocks into our portfolio in the past, but we concluded that we did not know enough about them to invest anything significant. My pick back at that meeting was Amylin which is actually up quite a bit right now (not that I knew that would happen). My rational for picking ISCO is that if we want to get in on the biotech, we might as well start small with stock with minimal risk and high potential for reward. Companies like ISCO are making some big breakthroughs in stem cell research and now that we don't have a Jesus freak in office, I think stem cell treatments will soon become common. This stock is cheap (around $2). I say we invest $50 - $75 and see what happens. A co-worker of mine picked up Biotime last year at a similar price, and its now up at $7 a share. Who knows if that will happen here, but its worth a shot. I like our odds here more than Tiger in the Masters. Its a gamble and we are Kenny Rogers. Below is an overview of the company. See you all on Sat.


International Stem Cell Corporation is a California-based biotechnology company focused on therapeutic and research products. ISCO’s core technology, parthenogenesis, results in creation of pluripotent human stem cells from unfertilized oocytes (eggs). hpSCs avoid ethical issues associated with the use or destruction of viable human embryos. ISCO scientists have created the first parthenogenetic, homozygous stem cell line that can be a source of immune-matched therapeutic cells to minimize immune rejection after transplantation into hundreds of millions of individuals of differing sexes, ages and racial groups. This offers the potential to create the first true stem cell bank, UniStemCell™, while avoiding the ethical issue of using fertilized eggs. ISCO also produces and markets specialized cells and growth media for therapeutic research worldwide through its subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology. More information is available at ISCO’s website, www.internationalstemcell.com.