I want money. That's what I want.
There was no post yesterday, because I spent the ENTIRE DAY researching stocks. We added two positions to our portfolio, and they were both chosen after a lot of research. One was a very good pick (in my opinion, which doesn’t mean doodly squat); that one is United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) We’re already up $.67 per share over this morning’s purchase price, and it looks good (to me) until the feds start loosening up on rates and the economy surges again. We might sell it earlier.. I dunno yet. At any rate, this was one of the few small-to-mid-cap stocks in which the board of directors and/or the financials didn’t give me the heebie-jeebies. The company is currently expanding its distribution base, to capture a little more of the organic food market. UNFI has taken on a little debt (but not much, compared to revenue) to do this, and while this might not be the best time to take on debt because of slightly higher interest rates, it’s a fairly certain thing that this company will be in a prime position to capture a large share of the rapidly-growing organic and whole foods market. We all want to feel good about what we eat, don’t we? How much buzz have you seen about ‘whole foods’ and ‘organic foods’ in the media lately? Take a look around, watch a few commercials, listen to health-conscious-but-time-stressed America search for a way to get something better than cheezy poufs and sugar-laden cereals at the grocery store. (note: I dearly love cheezy poufs, but only once every few months. I eat oatmeal and vegetables nearly every day.) Couple that with the fed-neutral point in the economic cycle, and I consider this stock a winner. We purchased half of our intended position this morning.
Yeah, sounds like voodoo. It is. It’s freaking gambling. My mother would love this stuff. However, what we do is prudent gambling.
The other stock pick I made was probably purchased at the wrong time, but I’ve still got faith in it. Here’s why: The company is American Ecology Corporation (ECOL), the oldest radioactive wastes services provider in the US, and the only company in the country that handles both hazardous and radioactive waste facilities. According to their web site, they own all the physical facilities that they use for all this nasty waste management, but with only 214 employees, I’m thinking they probably sub-contract the personnel for some jobs. I could be wrong about that, but my homework for this company isn’t anywhere near done. We only committed to one-third of our intended position for ECOL this morning, and we’ll wait to see how this cycle goes before we either buy a little more, double down, or dump it. This company also manages PCB wastes generated by manufacture of computer parts and components, and being based in Boise makes just that portion of their business fairly lucrative. The government contracts are just gravy. Everything about this small-cap security says, to me, that American Ecology Corporation is a prime company for one of the huger-than-huge companies (like WMI) to buy up in order to add industrial and government contracts to their revenue stream. (I know nothing about WMI’s management, but they’re on my list to look at.)
All of the above is just my opinion... I’m not trying to sell you on these stocks, or on stock trading, period. I like it, get high on it, enjoy it immensely, but I’ve got the spare time to devote to it. If you don’t have a couple of days a week to spend researching stock to buy and sell... then don’t. I’m just sharing my excitement at my very first actual pull-the-trigger foray into the world of stock exchanges.
(Yeah, I think Jim Cramer is brilliant. No, I don’t do his picks, but I do use his methods of research.)