U.S. Dividend Watch List: May 10, 2013

Below are the 10 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are within 11% of their respective 52-week lows. Stocks that appear on our watch lists are not recommendations to buy. Instead, they are the starting point for doing your research and determining the best company to buy. Ideally, a stock that is purchased from this list is done after a considerable decline in the price and rigorous due diligence.

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Activision Blizzard is a Sell

On December 24, 2012, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) was among the top three stocks on our Nasdaq 100 Watch List (found here).  At the time, we said the following:

“Activision Blizzard (ATVI) was on the watch list on August 12, 2011 (found here) when the stock was trading at $10.71.  No sooner than ATVI was on our list that it rose +30% to the November 8, 2011 high.   ATVI is now selling at the same price as August 2011, however, the stock has a lower P/E ratio and a lower P/B ratio.  If we suppose that the stock has not moved up at all in the last year, this could be considered an undervalued stock.”

Activision is up over +39% in only 5 months.  With such excessive gains in such a short period of time, it is necessary to consider selling the stock.  For investors who want to take advantage of any additional upside potential, selling only the principal is an acceptable alternative.

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BMC Software is a Sell, Meets Upside Target

On December 16, 2011, BMC Software (BMC) was at the top of our Nasdaq 100 Watch List (found here).  At that time, we said the following:

“BMC Software (BMC) has not only fallen to a new 52-week low, it has also fallen to a 2-year low. Based on the decline so far, according to Dow Theory, BMC could retrace to the $40 level. Fair value for the stock is at $44.86. The $40 level seems reasonable within the next year for BMC even though it is 20% above the current price. The most obvious downside target for BMC is the October 2008 low of $22. A decline of $22 would equal a loss of 33%.

“It should be noted that despite the market turmoil of 2008, BMC did not fall to the 2006 low. Additionally, the long term support line as drawn in the chart for BMC indicates that $22 ultimate price to watch for. If BMC were to replicate the percentage decline from the May 2008 top to the October 2008 low, the stock would decline to a price of $31.11.

“The Punchline: Those interested in BMC could split their investments into two transactions. The first purchase could be done between Friday’s closing price and $31.11 and the second if the stock declines to the $22 level. No additional shares should be bought if the price increases.”

Since December 16, 2011, BMC fell as low as $31.65 and has achieved the current price of $45.36.  However, it has been indicated that Bain Capital is willing to pay $46.25 for BMC.  While competing offers for BMC may exceed the $46.25 price, we feel that the gains achieved, at the current price, requires investors to sell the stock at a +36.75% gain from the 2011 low.

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Dow Theory: Downside Targets

It has been almost two months since our last Dow Theory posting.  This is as it should be, since Dow Theory does not require a daily accounting of changes to the market.   As indicated in Robert Rhea’s The Dow Theory:

“There are three movements of the averages, all of which may be in progress at one and the same time.  The first, and most important, is the primary trend: the broad upward or downward movements known as bull or bear markets, which may be of several years’ duration.  The second, and most deceptive movement, is the secondary reaction: an important decline in a primary bull market or rally in a primary bear market.  These reactions usually last from three weeks to as many months.  The third, and usually unimportant, movement is the daily fluctuation.” (source: Rhea, Robert. The Dow Theory. Barron’s, New York. 1932. Page 32.)

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U.S. Dividend Watch List: April 26, 2013

Below are the 22 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are within 11% of their respective 52-week lows. Stocks that appear on our watch lists are not recommendations to buy. Instead, they are the starting point for doing your research and determining the best company to buy. Ideally, a stock that is purchased from this list is done after a considerable decline in the price and rigorous due diligence.

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Nasdaq 100 Watch List: April 26, 2013

Below are the Nasdaq 100 companies that are within 10% of their respective 52-week lows. Stocks that appear on our watch lists are not recommendations to buy. Instead, they are the starting point for doing your research and determining the best company to buy. Ideally, a stock that is purchased from this list is done after a considerable decline in the price and rigorous due diligence.

Symbol Name Price P/E EPS Yield P/B % from yr low
BIDU Baidu, Inc. 85.02 17.87 4.76 - 7.77 2.46%
EXPD Expeditors International. 35.42 22.56 1.57 1.6 3.61 3.57%
FFIV F5 Networks, Inc. 74.2 21.2 3.5 - 4.24 5.10%
TEVA Teva Pharmaceutical 38.55 17.13 2.25 2.8 1.44 5.24%
ALTR Altera Corp. 31.2 18.14 1.72 1.3 3.16 5.44%
GRMN Garmin Ltd. 34.72 12.58 2.76 5.1 1.96 6.77%
ISRG Intuitive Surgical, Inc. 486.76 28.57 17.04 - 5.16 6.94%
AVGO Avago Technologies Limited 32.11 14.27 2.25 2.4 3.19 8.11%
AAPL Apple Inc. 417.205 9.46 44.11 2.7 3.01 8.34%
WFM Whole Foods Market, Inc. 88.61 33.43 2.65 0.9 4.62 8.87%
CTXS Citrix Systems, Inc. 61.8 33.23 1.86 - 3.76 9.25%

Watch List Summary

Baidu (BIDU) has topped our list this week.  Despite having “unfettered” access to the Chinese market for search, the stock continues its long slide from the high price of $165.

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Apparently, in the controlled environment of internet search in China, competitors are gaining ground in terms of market share.  Since Google (GOOG) exited the search arena in China on April 10, 2010, the stock price performance of Google and Baidu has been exactly the same, albeit through opposite routes as indicated in the chart below.

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There is at least one lesson in this reversal of fortune for Baidu and the departure from China by Google as it relates to the stock price, the largest market in the world is not necessary for a stock price to rise.  In fact, it could be considered that if you’re in the largest market, after having tapped into every other market on the planet, then you’re probably at the end of the line in terms of growth.  This brings us to the view that Baidu has some opportunity for growth since its global reach is limited, for now.

In the February 15, 2013 Value Line Investment Survey, fair value estimates for Baidu are:

  • 2010: $34.60
  • 2011: $68.00
  • 2012: $104.00
  • 2013: $124.00
  • 2015-2017: $210.00

The Speed Resistance Lines for Baidu are very compelling at this time as shown below:

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The conservative downside target of $93.43 has been achieved and we are now sitting at the extreme downside target of $54.79. All indications, based on the SRL, are that Baidu is worth considering in a two stage purchase plan, once at the current level and again at $67 or lower.

Watch List Performance Review

In our ongoing review of the Nasdaq 100 Watch List, we have taken the top 5 stocks from April 27, 2012 (found here). The top 5 companies from the watch list are provided below with the closing price from April 27, 2012 to April 26, 2013.

Symbol
Company 2012 2013 % Change
CHRW CH Robinson Worldwide  59.02 58.44 -0.98%
FSLR First Solar, Inc. 18.35 44.08 140.22%
EXPD Expeditors Int’l 39.90 35.42 -11.23%
CTRP Ctrip.com Int’l 21.66 22.22 2.59%
EA Electronic Arts Inc. 15.32 17.88 16.71%
Average 29.46%
NDX Nasdaq 100 Index 3420.80 3747.15 9.54%

As can been seen in the table above, First Solar (FSLR) is the stock that carried the performance for the top 5 stocks.  If FSLR were excluded the gain for the top 5 if bought and held for the full year would have been +1.42%.  To be honest, we would not have bought FSLR at that time but this explains why we run these numbers.  We want to see how well or poorly an investor would do if they knew nothing about the names and simply bought the top five stocks.  Four of the top five stocks gained at least +10% with Expeditors Intl (EXPD) being the only stock to fall short of that mark.

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The three stocks that we identified to be of interest from the April 27, 2012 watch list had the following performance in the last year as compared the Nasdaq 100 Index.

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All three of the stocks, Symantec (SYMC), Infosys (INFY) and Electronic Arts (EA) hit the first estimated downside target before rising above the watch list price.  All three of the stocks gained at least +15% within the year.

Gold Stocks: Are We There Yet?

Below is a chart and commentary from Richard Russell’s Dow Theory Letters dated July 30, 1976.  It is key that those who are interested in precious metal stocks understand the significance of gold stocks to decline precipitously in spite of being in a gold bull market.  This piece punctuates that idea with some possible insight on how to recognize the bottom of a bear market. Continue reading

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U.S. Dividend Watch List: April 19, 2013

Below are the 27 companies on our U.S. Dividend Watch List that are within 11% of their respective 52-week lows. Stocks that appear on our watch lists are not recommendations to buy. Instead, they are the starting point for doing your research and determining the best company to buy. Ideally, a stock that is purchased from this list is done after a considerable decline in the price and rigorous due diligence.

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Transaction Alert

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Canadian Watch List: April 18, 2013

This is a list of Canadian dividend stocks that currently, or in the past, had a history of consecutive dividend increases. For those wishing to find the most complete fundamental information on these companies, we recommend visiting one of Canada’s leading financial websites, the Financial Post (found here). However, Yahoo!Finance probably has the better long-term charts and historical dividend data.

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Upside Targets for Individual Gold Stocks

We’ve come to the time when we need to determine the upside targets for gold stocks.  There are a few assumption that we’re making in this assessment.  First, we believe that our Gold Stock Indicator is right about the direction of gold stocks, in general.  Second, we’re assuming that from the current levels there is more downside risk.  Third, we have excluded fundamental analysis (government printing, future earnings capacity, gold as money, etc.) from our assessment of the upside potential for individual gold stocks.

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Transaction Alert

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