May 282010
 

Audio only version of episode 2.

May 242010
 

The market is a fun ride to watch these days.  The economic melt down of Greece, the spiraling unemployment in Spain (some forecasts at 30%!), and the combination of debt, deficit and recession in Portugal.  I originally entitled this post “The Manic Depressive State of the Economy”, but, ironically, I believe the basic American economy to be fundamentally healthy and recovering.  What we see in the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P right now is predominantly reaction various foreign crises. 

Today the market started a little down, then recovered to about even and finally finished down about 1.24%.  I’m watching the Asian markets right now and the Nikkei is down 3.24%, Hang Seng is down 2.4%, and the Straits Times is down 1.94%.  It will be interesting to see where the DAX, FTSE, and CAC open at in an hour or so.

You can usually watch this like clock work as downs (or ups!) work their way from exchange to exchange, time zone to time zone – sometimes lapping the planet a couple times.  I think it may be time for me to alter strategy and take the gains that I’m sitting on and flip back to 20% in the marketand identify some short-term undervalued stocks to ride up in a couple weeks. 

I identified Windstream Corp (WIN) in a PodCast episode.  I think if I can get in at about $10, it has a good chance of giving a 15% – 20% gain in the ensuing few weeks.  When I have a short term play like this, I typically won’t bite unless I can see a reasonable 10% short-term gain.  I think I’ll see where it is tomorrow, bite the hook and see where it taked us.

- John

May 222010
 
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In this episode of Investing ABC’s we cover the primary resources that John Leonard has used in managing his portfolio. 

The resources discussed include :

  • Yahoo Finance
  • AOL Finance
  • Investors Business Daily (investors.com)
  • Scottrade Stock Screener
  • Gorilla Trades

Stocks mentioned in this episode include:

  • United Technologies (UTX)
  • Central Garden & Pet (CENT)
  • Quiksilver (ZQK)
  • Quicksilver Resources (KWK)
  • Shanda Interactive Entertainment (SNDA)
  • Windstream Corporation (WIN)

Let’s go make money!

- John

May 182010
 

Audio only version of Episode 1.

May 162010
 
PlayPlay

Well, here it is boys & girls:  The First Episode of Investing ABC’s.  In this first episode we explore why we’re doing the podcast, where we’ll go with it and what we’ll get out of it.  The main points are:

Who am I?

  • My name is John Leonard
  • Over 20 years in Accounting & Finance. 
  • Investing for about 15 or so years, about half that dealing with individual securities.

Why are we doing this?

  • To learn to invest confidently so that you avoid the heart burn and fear that most new and many veteran investors experience. 
  • Do your homework, know when to sell, don’t get emotionally involved. 
  • Learn how to evaluate stock and avoid speculation!

What are we doing to do?

  • We are going to establish a process for methodically for finding and evaluating stocks. 
  • Trading vs. investing
  • Cramer vs. Buffet
  • Don’t be the pig

What’s Next?

  • How to analyze
  • Understanding the numbers & value
  • Finding and using tools available on the web (most of them are free!)
  • Analyzing my losses so that you (we) can avoid them
  • Using the available tools to find stocks
  • Analyzing stock picks

Leave comments on this blog to suggest topics, nominate a stock for evaluation in an upcoming episode.

Now lets go make some money!

- John