it was just the discount rate, right?

8/17/2007 10:18:30 AM

correct

8/17/2007 10:29:32 AM

don't know why CTSH dropped so much today. keeping an eye on it.

8/17/2007 11:04:39 AM

Damn. Down another 4% in the past two days.

-2.2%

8/17/2007 11:48:39 AM

better get in on this Spartan Motors

[Edited on August 17, 2007 at 11:52 AM. Reason : .]

8/17/2007 11:52:13 AM

GS is up today but has been going way down recently from their $220 high. Down in the $170s now.
Could be a decent buying opportunity.

EPS: $21.45
P/E: 8.12

8/17/2007 2:49:28 PM

It's been a while. Can someone re-explain to me the relevancy of EPS and P/E

8/17/2007 2:54:53 PM

EPS - Earnings per Share

P/E - Price to Earnings Ratio

Generally you'd like EPS to be high and P/E to be low, but it's not a good idea to invest based solely on these two metrics.

8/17/2007 2:57:49 PM

high / low compared to what?

8/17/2007 2:58:49 PM

Alright, I've finally actually done something other than stare at the APD stock I came into a few months ago. Sold off a portion of that to use for purposes of diversification. I'd rather have used cash from something else, but at the moment it represents pretty much all of the money I can access.

TIE -- In accordance with suggestions from this thread, my own research, and the overall balance of institutional opinions

NOVL -- In accordance with the majority of institutional opinions and my current ability to be able to take a (kinda) educated risk

BUD -- In accordance with my own research and certainty that people will drink beer during any and all economic conditions

All horrid choices I have no doubt, but before you suggest I jump out of any windows note that none of the buildings in this godforsaken hellhole are tall enough to guarantee my death.

8/17/2007 3:13:53 PM

^^Usually to other companies in whatever sector you're interested in. A lot of people like to compare P/E to whatever the S&P 500 average is.

A large EPS is indicative of a profitable company. Various accounting trick can affect EPS as well as the number of outstanding shares.

A low P/E can be indicative of an undervalued stock: a low stock price compared to the earnings applied to that stock. However, there are a lot of really good stocks with large P/E ratios and P/E really isn't that good of a stock metric.

8/17/2007 3:19:44 PM

Did anyone pick up any ETV after I recommended it? Its up 7% today.

Not that I ever predicted short term gains like that.

8/17/2007 3:34:49 PM

What's the pe for s&p?

8/17/2007 3:37:49 PM

Someone forget to punch in the numbers on Yahoo Finance for the graphs....?

8/17/2007 3:37:54 PM

EPS is basically the portion of a company's profit that is allocated to each outstanding common shar after bond interest, taxes, and preferred dividends have been paid. A company's board of directors decides what portion of the eps is distributied as a dividend to common shareholders. So you need to watch out for things like stock splits and repurchases.

P-E ratio tells a stock's current market price divided by its annual earnings which is simply "how expensive is the stock relative to its earnings?"

8/17/2007 3:40:33 PM

P/E = share price / earnings per share (eps)

P/E should be inline with growth, "twice growth" is a high PE. If AMZN is growing @ 20% year over year, a P/E of 40 is high. This is where the PEG ratio comes from, P/E/G.

On the other hand, some will argue that fundamentals play less of a role than market psychology does - like we have recently seen. Stock price fluctuations ultimately pay you.

/rant

8/17/2007 5:27:20 PM

portfolio is still up for the year but not at 12 percent anymore

8/18/2007 6:04:44 PM

For all you Cramer fans:

Quote :

"Cramer's picks haven't beaten the market--Barron's Sunday August 19, 6:45 pm ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jim Cramer's stock picks on his nightly CNBC show "Mad Money" haven't beaten the market over the past two years, according to an article in the August 20 edition of Barron's. Over that period, Cramer's stocks rose 12 percent, compared with a 22 percent rise in the Dow Jones industrial average and a 16 percent rise in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, Barron's said. The data is based on a record of 1,300 of the CNBC star's buy recommendations compiled by YourMoneyWatch.com, a Web site run by a retired stock analyst and loyal Cramer-watcher, said the report. The Barron's article adds that it also looked at a database of Cramer's "Mad Money" picks over the last six months, which is maintained by his Web site, TheStreet.com. The data showed his picks were flat to down in relation to the market, according to the Barron's report. CNBC officials said that viewers should buy Cramer's picks a week after they're aired. They said that the show is mainly educational, and not just about stock-picking, according to the article. "I've never read a single article that I thought wasn't a massive distortion of what the show's all about," Barron's quoted Jim Cramer as saying. A spokeswoman for CNBC was not immediately available to comment. "There is no doubt that Cramer is trying diligently to make you money. His advice is generally smart, his knowledge of individual stocks amazingly detailed," notes the article. But, the report also warns that credible evidence suggests that the "telestockmeister's" picks aren't beating the market."

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/070819/cramer_barrons.html?.v=1

8/20/2007 8:00:23 AM

I am a stock market n00b, and even I got it that he's full of crap.

8/20/2007 8:48:49 AM

His analysis is generally very good. the problem is that due to his polarizing fame, stocks will move based on his mention of a stock rather than on the fundamentals that he's highlighting (good or bad).

I always cringe any time he mentions a stock that I own.

8/20/2007 10:05:47 AM

^ Why? You could sell it the next day when it goes up because of his fans, make some money, and then when it goes down a week later buy it again.

[Edited on August 20, 2007 at 12:45 PM. Reason : .]

8/20/2007 12:45:14 PM

try it and let me know how that works.

8/20/2007 1:07:44 PM

its because he has to make calls every single day
and who in the world knows how long or how much of each stock he picks he would own
all of these people who track him track the performance of every stock he gives a buy over the next month or year or whatever, how is that not a ridiculous comparison?

they should compare his charitable trust to the appropriate index, thats the only real comparison

look at the fast money picks, or any stock show and tell me they beat an index

8/20/2007 2:29:34 PM

anyone do any afterhours trading?

i'm trying to speculate on KONG , seems they don't move any shares after closing bell

nevermind, got some @ 3.95




[Edited on August 20, 2007 at 4:27 PM. Reason : g]

8/20/2007 4:25:14 PM

8/20/2007 6:45:28 PM

^ How about GGBM for some intraday trading tomorrow?

8/20/2007 7:36:40 PM

You might want to wait to they report for last quarter

8/20/2007 10:09:21 PM

heh, maybe i shoulda held onto VMW longer, but i made some cash, so i really can't complain.

I said i was going to sell NUAN too, but I got busy and didn't get around to it. My laziness has paid off for a change, and I'm up another 8% or so. I'm now up about 25% overall on this one.

I've got about $5700 after the VMW sale in cash. I don't see a lot of buying opportunities. I still own MDR, and am thinking of ramping up my position there.

one good article:
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/investing/10374956.html

Quote :

"McDermott's customers are utility companies, oil companies and the U.S. government. The U.S. Energy Department recently renewed its contract with them to maintain the nation's strategic crude oil reserve. The $600 million contract will provide needed protection against disruptions in the oil market. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has a capacity of 727 million barrels of oil, and the Bush administration has proposed doubling the size of the strategic oil stockpile to 1.5 billion barrels by 2027."

good stuff. If we do go into a recession, this is the type of company that won't be hurt too badly. They've been pretty volatile, trading between 69 and 94 in the past month. They're currently at 78 and some change.

8/21/2007 10:15:09 AM

sold some VMW at 63 today.

still have over a hundred shares in it.

8/21/2007 11:15:01 AM

also -- i don't know about GGBM.

i will likely try and game TSL today or tomorrow -- earnings Thursday i think.


i really think last Thursday was either the second or third leg of a double or triple bottom.

i'm going to go ahead and admit that i'm a "permabull"


just unloaded some more VMW @ 65.5



[Edited on August 21, 2007 at 1:35 PM. Reason : ]

8/21/2007 1:14:58 PM

if it weren't for my fucking trailing stops, i'd still own VMW


but can i really complain if i made money?


I will anyway.

8/21/2007 2:05:28 PM

you protected the ball, and in the process got fewer yards. its ok as long as you got the first down.

8/21/2007 2:40:15 PM

Cramer's bad bets

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/JimCramersBadBets.aspx?GT1=10328

8/22/2007 9:20:44 AM

^^ haha

I feel like i took a quarterback slide, when there was a clear path to the endzone.

>.<

8/22/2007 9:41:28 AM

fuck it

bought 147 shares @ 69.90

EDIT:

71.15 already, this shit is whack.

[Edited on August 22, 2007 at 10:12 AM. Reason : ]

8/22/2007 9:56:34 AM

word

8/22/2007 10:17:31 AM

Greater Fool Theory FTW.

...maybe...

8/22/2007 10:23:06 AM

for the moment i'm ressisting the urge to chase it

and its giving me blue balls

8/22/2007 10:35:38 AM

Anybody looking at TIE right now? Seems to be doing better.

8/22/2007 8:37:45 PM

yeah, that's why i haven't really been looking at it for a few days

8/23/2007 1:55:41 AM

i see you guys are alive, well, and still trading. what's new?????

8/23/2007 12:35:49 PM

So now that I have a job and am making ok money Ive started to think about trying to do something with it besides buying beer and what not. I dont have a ton to throw around right now and like the idea of day type trading more than long term investing at the current time. Granted I am probably only looking at takin maybe a grand and throwing it around. I spend quite a bit of time online so obviously doing this online would be great for me. All that being said any ideas/suggestions/advice for my situation I would appreciate. Mainly lookin for online broker type things as far as best deal for that amount of cash, how much per trade, that sorta thing as I dont really have any experience with investing, but only one way to learn. If ya dont wanna dirty up this thread feel free to go the PM route Id hate for someone to miss a good deal. Thanks

[Edited on August 23, 2007 at 1:06 PM. Reason : .]

8/23/2007 1:05:48 PM

With only a grand I wouldn't be day trading. I'd just buy a nice index fund like QQQQ.

8/23/2007 1:35:16 PM

Yeah any suggestions like that are welcomed as well, mainly Id like to use this money to get some experience with investing, its money that I wouldn't die if I lost either so I dont want to just go with something safe that will make me 50 bucks a year or something ya know.

8/23/2007 1:38:32 PM

The only problem is that frequent trading of $1000 would result in buy/sell transaction fees that would quickly eat up your profits.

8/23/2007 1:42:05 PM

Right, I suppose day trading may not have been the best use of terms, perhaps I should have said more along the lines of say buying something and holding onto it for a couple days, maybe a few weeks, and then at some given set number in my head selling, obviously if it goes down chances are I would hold onto it if I felt it would go back up. Like you said so long as the cost per buy/sell is set I can keep up with how much of a profit hit I am taking. It should also be said that at some given time possibly the first of the year Id like to start putting some percentage of my pay into something more stable like a mutual fund or something in order to kinda diversify or whatever the term would be.

8/23/2007 1:48:15 PM

Quote :

"Anybody looking at TIE right now? Seems to be doing better."

I picked it up during its dip last week, which was pretty much as low as it's been in '07 (and hopefully as low as it's gonna get). Still haven't decided 100% what my intentions for it are.

8/23/2007 1:54:06 PM

Do you have a 401K doss?

8/23/2007 2:01:20 PM

Nope the job I am at currently is a very small company and when I was at UPS I didnt make enough to put any into one haha

8/23/2007 2:05:21 PM

Ah that sucks. You can always get an IRA though.

8/23/2007 2:06:10 PM