This'n'That; April 12th[Investing:Stocks;Dividends;PreciousMetals]

From Here....Where?
Investors routinely check the common market indices throughout the trading day.   Some of them are:

• The Dow-Jones Industrial Average [DJIA] closed last Friday [04/09] at 10,997.35; less than three points below the magic level of 11,000!
• The National Ass'n of Securities Dealers Automated Quote [NASDAQ] closed last Friday at 2454.05.
• The Standard & Poor's 500 Largest Companies [S&P500] closed last Friday at 1194.37.
• The Russell Index of 2,000 Small-Cap Companies [Russell 2000] closed last Friday at 702.95.

Still other investors check precious metals indices; the New York Spot Price [Friday {04/09} closing prices-Bid/Asked]:

• Gold................$1161.40/$1162.40
• Silver..................$18.39/$18.42
• Platinum........$1,721.00/$1,727.00
• Palladium.........$511.00/$516.00
• Rhodium........$2,780.00/$3,080.00
• [All precious metals' prices: Per Troy Ounce]

All that is fine information, if you understand it!!  Given that you understand at least some of it, what the Hell do ya do with it?!?!
Well, if you're like me.... you start mining all the crap that's published on the internet, in the papers and/or in the magazines.
   I subscribe to several financial publications, namely Money Magazine; Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine; Forbes Magazine.  Two or three times a week, I pick up Investor's Business Daily newspaper or The Wall Street Journal newspaper; or both!!  I don't subscribe to the papers so I pick them up at the newsstand or the grocery store.  I also get monthly publications from the two mutual fund families "The Boss" and/or I are invested in.

• American Century Investments [ http://www.americancentury.com/ ]
• T. Rowe Price [ http://www.troweprice.com/ ]

    All these publications plus the internet information are fine.  I realize that it's all "old news" by the time it gets to me.  So the primary concern becomes: How old is it?  The internet is probably the most timely, but one has to factor in other facts like how honest is the reporter/blogger?  Is the reporter/blogger just doing a "pump-and-dump?"
   I can only speak to my investment strategy.  In the past I've made what I consider sizeable profits in 'the market,' only to be wiped out by either one of several divorces or the many market downturns we've suffered over the years.

[That's where someone publishes several {dozens to hundreds} "news" stories about one or several stocks; enough so that the stocks' names and ticker symbols are picked up by search engines.  Less-than-astute investors believe the advancing stock prices are legitimate and invest in them; usually "penny-stocks."  Once the stock has advanced several cents, the original "pumper" takes advantage of the unsuspecting investor by "dumping" the stock for a sizeable percentage gain in profit.]

 

   Again:  Where do we go from here??  Given the uncertainty in the market, we each have separate accounts at Scottrade, Inc., our online trading choice.  Each account has a position in Berkshire-Hathaway, B Series[BRK-B].  We intend to use the Berkshire positions as "parking places" for the profits taken on downward trending stocks.  Since the current recession started, we've made several "paper" profits in the market by buying depressed stocks in solid companies:

• We bought Ford Motor Company [F] in November, '008 for $1.37; last Friday's close was $12.72 [+830%!].
• We bought Beezer Homes [BZH] in March of '009 for $0.698; last Friday's close was $4.81 [+566%!].

   We bought each of these stocks for what I thought were solid reasons:
FORD-The management had the forethought to arrange long-term financing ahead of the economic downturn.  Plus, Ford management was smart enough to resist the "Clown Prince's" pressure to take the Porkulus bailout funds that GM and Chrysler did!!
BEEZER HOMES-The company was a solidly financed, profitable home builder in the past.  I figured--somewhat incorrectly--that the housing market downturn had bottomed out and the company would begin the new construction season on a positive note.
   Since the New Year, I've added a couple of criteria to our strategy--dividend income and precious metals.
In the dividend arena, we've taken positions in:

• Resource Capital Corp [RSO]; .25 quarterly dividend [13.5% yield].
• Frontier Communications Corp [FTR]; $.25 quarterly dividend [13.4% yield].
• Chumera Investment Corp [CIM]; $.17 quarterly dividend [17.2% yield].

   It takes hours and hours of research just to find those stocks that pay dividends!  Then hours more in weeding out those who aren't on solid financial footing; those who's dividend yield is small enough to make it a barely profitable investment.
   In the precious metals arena,  we've not made any investments yet.  In all areas of investing, three criteria are important to me: price; value; growth.  Value and growth are a matter of indepth research; price is obvious at a glance.  Given the price requirements, all precious metals except silver, are out of the question!  I've narrowed my list of "agents;" those perveyors of precious metals; to two:

• American Precious Metals Exchange;  http://www.apmex.com/
• The Colorado Gold Co;  http://www.coloradogold.com/

There are several websites that send me daily informational emails; we can get into them tomorrow if I have the time; I'm also rehabbing a two-family house!!
Til Nex'Time....