My Chinese stocks are up MAD!

Everyone knows that China is a rising world superpower, and an economic powerhouse. Never mind their massive polluting of the earth, the repression of their people, or any of that ancillary stuff. I own 5 Chinese stocks and they are flipping insane!

Guangshen Railway (GSH) -- up 13.72% today
iShares FTSE Xinhua 25 (FXI) -- up 9.27% today
China Unicom (CHU) -- up 8.07% today
China Telecom (CHA) -- up 7.24% today
Ctrip.com (CTRP) -- up 6.43% today

These held 5 of the 6 top spots today. I continue to be amazed at the heights these stocks are reaching. I haven't allocated a massive portion of our portfolio to them, but they are outpacing my other holdings. I am hesitant to plow new money into these stocks, but I am not selling either. I just get the feeling I'm holding on to something special - something like the Chinese Wal-Mart. We'll see!

Investing success (or not) for 6/27/07

The Dow was up 90 points today, and my portfolio blew the doors off with a gain of $1,200.

I love when a gain in the Dow corresponds to a much larger-than-expected gain in my portfolio. It normally does not happen this way. I usually see a commensurable gain in my portfolio when compared to the rise in the Dow, but an oversized drop in my portfolio when compared with a modest drop in the Dow. I don't know why that is - it could have something to do with the small cap stocks I own, which introduce a higher volatility to my portfolio. I could also just be imagining this phenomenon.

Investing successes today:
First off, I had some big gainers today, and I'll highlight them below. But today was unusual in the sheer number of stocks that were up. I had 45 advancers today, next to 10 decliners. That makes for a good portfolio day! I had 18 stocks that were up at least 2% today. Some details:

Inventiv Health (VTIV) - up 7.1%.

Nuance Communications (NUAN) - up 5.7%

Dawson Geophysical (DWSN) - up 4.4%

OYO Geospace (OYOG) - up 4.2%

Volcom (VLCM) - up 4%


Investing failures today:
Peerless Systems (PRLS) - down 5.4%. Big whoop, I own $300 bucks of this - it's the runt of the litter.

A few other decliners, nothing of great significance. It was a great day!


Also, I will soon bring news of a financial transaction that I recently consummated - something I said I would never do! Stay tuned.

Investing success (or not) for 6/4/07

The market showed amazing resiliency today. Shanghai had an 8% meltdown yesterday (well, today, but it feels like yesterday to us because we were all sleeping), and this has typically led to similar pullbacks across the world's bourses. But not today. USA! USA! USA!

But seriously, both the Dow and the S&P 500 posted new records (again). The weird thing is that the gains were miniscule, and yet my portfolio was up $504. I love days like that!

Investing successes today:
Dawson Geophysical (DWSN) - up 4.9%.

OYO Geospace (OYOG) - up 4.1%.

I had 12 other stocks that were up at least 1.5% today.

My Chinese stocks - besides Kongzhong, which bears mentioning below in the "failures" section, my Chinese holdings held up rather well. Typically on a day where Shanghai has a huge drop, my Chinese holdings take a bit of a beating. I was just surprised that that did not happen today.


Investing failures today:
Sadia (SDA) - down 2.7%. No big deal, I'm still up 89% on this stock.

Kongzhong (KONG) - down 2.4%. The stock with the coolest ticker symbol is a real pain in my arse. I have two lots - one is down 40%, the other is down 28%. This stock is barking.

Investing success (or not) for 5/22/07

Today the markets were basically flat, and my TDAmeritrade accounts were up a combined $75. My accounts there are now above $95,000 in total, which is easily a new record for me. I have pumped some cash into them in the last few months, but the prospects for being able to do so in the next few months are looking pretty grim. Baby-related expenses, along with preschool for my almost 3-year-old daughter, are going to eat into the budget. My wife and I will both be receiving raises (me in July, my wife in September), which will hopefully offset these expenses to a degree.

Some interesting things happened in my portfolio today.

Investing success:
Planetout Inc. (LGBT) -- up 13.3%. This after being down throughout the day. This stock sucks so bad, where the hell is Rupert Murdoch to snap this company up and save me?!? Tell you what, since I'm already down huge in this stock (look at this one year chart!), this will be the last time I ever mention anything about Planetout in this column. Unless it goes up or down by more than 25% in a day.

Novastar Financial (NFI) -- up 7%. Another stock I don't care about. LGBT and this one are the two biggest dogs in my portfolio, so I actually hate listing them as successes. They did well today, but are an overall cancer on my portfolio. I think I'll stop listing this one too, unless it makes a 25% move. I see alot of bloggers stating, "Invest at your own risk, this site is for entertainment purposes only, I am not making official recommendations to buy stocks, don't sue me..." I can safely advise you to avoid LGBT and NFI. Just walk the other way.

Meritage Homes (MTH) -- up 4.6%. Home builders are a beaten down bunch. But these stocks cannot remain in the dumps forever. I bought this stock at a very unpopular time for homebuilding stocks, and I'm up 6.3% in total. I have hopes this will go higher.

Sadia (SDA) -- up 3.9%, and I'm up 80% in total on this stock.

Vail Resorts (MTN) -- up 3.3%. A ski resort operator has its stock go up in May? I know it's alot more complicated than that....

I had eight other stocks that were up between 1.5% and 3%.


Investing failures:
Kongzhong (KONG) -- down 25.8%. Oh dear. Out of my six Chinese holdings, this one is seriously underperforming. But down 25% in one day? KONG, you're killing me! I'm down 32% on this one overall.

Blackboard Inc (BBBB) -- down 6.5%. The stock fell on news of a downgrade from a single analyst. One guy dropped his rating to "Hold" from "Buy." One analyst. And he basically said the stock was approaching his $43 price target. The stock is now at $40.17. Does any of this add up? I don't think so. This is a prime example of how Wall Street overreacts to news - this is where you can profit. I did not add to my position today because of limited cash, but Warren Buffett's voice is ringing in my ear again... "Profit from folly rather than participate in it."

I am also still holding two $525 checks from my troublesome tenant. He gets paid on the 26th of each month, which falls on a Saturday this month. I assume he'll be getting paid on Friday then. I plan on calling him this week just to confirm that there's going to be $1,050 in his account ready to go.

Investing success (or not) for 5/16/07

Today the Dow, Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Q were all up! No more mixed markets like the last few days - all markets were up, and so was I. Today my TDAmeritrade accounts were up $715. I got paid yesterday, but was unable to pump any money into the market - mortgages, bills, and school uniforms for my daughter sucked me dry! I get paid again on the 31st, and a great portion of that will be invested.

Today's investing success:
Guangshen Railway (GSH) - up 5.5%. Look at this 5-day chart for GSH. That's a thing of beauty!

Blackboard Inc (BBBB) - up 4.4%. My position is up 69% in total.

Sadia (SDA) - up 3.7%

Rofin-Sinar Technologies (RSTI) - up 3.5%

China Unicom (CHU) - up 3%


Today's investing failures:
Planetout (LGBT) - down 4.9%. I now own $77 worth of this stock. F you executives at Planetout, get this stock out of the dumps! Look at this crappy 1-year chart.

My apartment building - out of my 4 tenants, one is causing trouble. We bought the building back in 2004, and this guy has paid his rent late every single month since then. We usually get his check between the 12th and the 15th of the month. However, as described here, we have not rocked the boat with the guy because we just can't be bothered with it right now. Just too busy to mess with him. If I get his check consistently by the 15th, it does no harm to our finances.

But lately he has been slipping. First he bounces a check back in February. Then he asks me to hold his April check until April 26th (long story, again described here). Since he paid me cash last month, I still have his April check. I just need to know from him when I can cash it. So I call him, leave him a message telling him to call me with information. This morning there's a note in our mailbox asking if I can hold that check until the 26th AGAIN. I asked the guy to call me to talk to me about his situation - I need to know what's going on with this guy's finances. If he talks to me, perhaps I'm willing to work with him. No call, just these sneaky notes in my mailbox.

The answer is no, I cannot wait until the 26th. I wrote him a letter and dropped it in his mailbox, stating that I need my money now, and I want to know what the hell is going on with him. I said that if I don't get my money, and I don't hear from him, I'm going to have to start eviction proceedings. I guess I didn't want to rock the boat, but I'm really rocking it now!

Stay tuned.

Investing success (or not) for 5/15/07

Another mixed day in the market, but another very lousy day for Q. My 5 TDAmeritrade accounts were down $606. The portfolio is bleeding a bit ... ..... tis but a flesh wound! The small caps I'm invested in are all fantastic companies, but they have bigger mood swings than large caps. Again, it just feels odd to be setting new records for the Dow while my net worth is taking a hit.

Today's investing successes:
Guangshen Railway (GSH) - up 4.3%. A nice three day run here.

Sadia (SDA) - up 3.8%. My position is up 76% here

Nuance Communications (NUAN) - up 3%. I am up 103% overall here.


Today's failures:
Peerless Systems (PRLS) - down 6.4%. My small position is now up 1%

Vaalco Energy (EGY) - down 4.3%. Tiny position, so I'm not concerned.

PlanetOut (LGBT) - down 4.1%. Surprise surprise. Read my rant here.

Scottish Re Group (SCT) - down 4.1%. I'm still up 30% overall with this stock.

Same as yesterday, I had well over 10 stocks that were off 2% or more. There are days like this, even when the Dow is up. This is no time to get discouraged. In fact, I am scouring my holdings looking for chances to add to my positions. I believe I'll find some buying opportunities, and I'll share what I've done once I've done it!

Investing success (or not) for 5/14/07

The market was mixed today, with the DOW slightly up and the S&P slightly down.

My portfolio was decidedly down - my 5 TDAmeritrade accounts were collectively down $717. Nothing took a massive nosedive for me, but several larger holdings declined, while the ones that were up today happened to be much smaller holdings. Just a weird day for me, with the market being basically flat, to have the portfolio drop that much.

Today's investing successes:
Guangshen Railway (GSH) - up 3%. I have alot of faith in my Chinese holdings, and each of them has performed well, except.....

KongZhong Corp (KONG) - up 2.7%. I opened up a position in KONG, and it dropped 17%. I opened a second position, and it kept dropping. With today's move, my second lot is back to breakeven.


Today's failures:
OYO Geospace (OYOG) - down 5%

Novastar Financial (NFI) - down 4.6%. I don't even care anymore.

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) - down 4.25%. This stock seems to be prone to wild price swings, but definitely with a propensity towards UP. This has been wonderful to me, so I don't complain about days like today.

Whole Foods (WFMI) - down almost 4%. I am really starting to regret purchasing this stock. I really like going to Whole Foods, high prices and all. Their steaks are kickass - awesome meat department. I really thought they had a niche with high barriers to entry. Who knew Wal-Mart would start offering tons of organic food? Who knew hundreds of other local grocers across the country would (and could) do the same thing? The stock price got juiced a bit by the Wild Oats merger announcement back in February. But the stock has fallen again, and my lot is down 18%. Ugggh.

I had ten other stocks that were down 2% or more. Rough day in Q's portfolio.

Investing success (or not) - new feature

Today I'm going to start a new regular feature called "Investing success (or not)." On days where significant things happen in my portfolio, I'll write about it. I may also share updates on the apartment building in this new feature.

With this blog, I want to steer young people (and middle-aged folks too, if you haven't started) towards saving and investing. There are plenty of articles to write about that subject. But I also want to communicate with investors that invest primarily in mutual funds, or even money market funds. I am not recommending the stocks that I own and will consequently talk about. But I will be candid about what I own and which stocks are doing great and which ones are killing me. I hope that it opens the eyes of my readers to the wonderful world of small cap stocks - I have been buying them for almost a year now, and I have killed the market. My 12 month return on my portfolio of small cap stocks is 31.6%, versus 16.6% for the S&P 500 and 11.9% for the Russell 2000.

So take a look at these stocks, if you like. Do your own research and invest at your own risk. Here goes.....

It was hard not to have success today! The DOW was up over 110 points.

Today's investing success:
Novastar Financial (NFI) -- up 8.2% today. I'm hardly jumping for joy, as my lot is still down almost 87% - easily the worst stock I have ever owned, without peer! But any up days with this dog are welcome news to me.

Guangshen Railway (GSH) - up 6.3% today, up 41% over the last year.

Dawson Geophysical (DWSN) - up 5.7% today.

iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund (FXI) - up 5.5% today

China Telecom (CHA) - up 5.25%


Today's failures:
PlanetOut, Inc. (LGBT) - down 6.82%. This after being down 29% yesterday. LET ME TAKE THIS MOMENT TO PUBLICLY FLOG THIS STOCK. I wrote here about LGBT, and that you want to keep emotions out of your decision-making. Now that my small holding in this company is down 77%, I say the hell with that. I hate this stock! PlanetOut is a media and entertainment company that caters to the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and trans-gender community; hence, their LGBT stock symbol. I read somewhere that this company could be a takeover target for News Corp. And I have nothing against the LGBT community, certainly nothing that would keep me from investing in a micro-cap stock. So I opened up a small position, just a few hundred dollars. Well, this one has been nothing but a total disappointment. I have no plans to sell, since I'd reap so little cash by getting out.

Peerless Systems Corp (PRLS) - down 7.19% today, up 8% from where I bought it. This one languished down near $2 before recently rebounding to above $3.50. My position is very small, so I'm not really fretting this one.