Welcome to the weekend after the worst week I can ever remember seeing in the stock market. I can’t do much to make you feel better about that, but I can give you a chance at $50 or $100 if you’ve got time to share an idea with the rest of us.
Famous investors of yore have shared lots of thought about what to do in these times, and most of them revolve around buying when everyone else is selling. Rothschild suggested that we buy when there’s blood in the streets, Buffett tells us to be greedy when others are fearful.
Well, today I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least a pinkish tinge to the sidewalks … and judging from my correspondence, people are as fearful now as they were after September 11, 2001 (for different reasons, of course). Who knows if it’s the bottom, but there certainly aren’t many enthusiastic buyers.
This market crash could hardly have come at a worse time — millions of Baby Boomers are hoping to retire over the next 10 years, and for those who were trying to goose their returns with a bit too much stock exposure those dreams of life on the road in a Winnebago may be pushed back a bit.
But if you’re like me, you can’t help but feel that in all this pain there may lie a bit of opportunity. And we know that in the short term, the market makes lots of mistakes as it rides emotional waves of fear and greed … so where does the opportunity lie?
Heck, maybe all our fear is misplaced and the fact that the Dow turned around late on Friday to move up 1,000 points or so (from intraday lows to intraday highs, at least) means we’re all fine, the last seller has left the building, and we’ll all be rich. No?
Now’s your chance to be the next Rockefeller or Buffett, though your rewards will be quite a bit more limited than theirs. I’m asking you to suggest a stock or other investment that you are tempted to buy right now, whether or not you can bring yourself to actually do so.
And I’ll award $50 each to two submissions — one whose idea sounds most interesting to me or is best presented, and the other to the person who suggests the stock that does best between now and election day. That’s only three weeks, so it’s a crazy time frame, but if I wait much longer I’ll forget to keep track. You can still come back and take some bragging rights if you make a good longer-term call.
And yes, the same person can win both if that’s how it works out. So you might just win a hundred bucks if you’ve got the magic October touch.
One catch: I’ll only reward the money if at least 20 people submit ideas.
The rules:
- You can submit only one idea, unless you fool me by using two different email addresses or accounts. Enter your idea in the comment form below.
- Submission deadline is Monday morning, before the stock market opens in NY. If you believe you’ll get great insight from the Asian markets on Sunday night, or the premarket Monday morning, feel free to wait until the last minute — 9:30 EST is the deadline Monday morning.
- If two of you have the same idea, the first one submitted gets credit.
- The Stock Gumshoe short ban is in effect — these have to be long positions in either exchange-traded debt or equity. You can choose an ETF or closed end fund if you like, but not a short or ultrashort ETF, or a short position in anything. And no, there’s no ticker for “coffee can in the backyard,” though I suppose you could pick the GLD ETF if you like.
- You can submit just a stock ticker if you want, but if you’d like to explain yourself please keep it fairly brief — no more than a couple paragraphs. You’ll have to explain yourself for a chance at the first $50.
I know that many of you wouldn’t part with your money right now no matter what, even if it was Mother Theresa at the door trying to sell you a bar of gold for a dollar, but I know most of you have at least a little temptation — who thought that GE would be in the teens? Or that Microsoft would trade at a single digit PE and have a dividend yield that’s actually worth looking at? And who knows, is something going to happen this weekend that changes everything?
So … what’s your stock market temptation?
"reveal" emails? If not,
just click here...
CF
I love the fundamentals on this stock. Solid earnings and earnings growth and no debt. A single digit PE too! This sector got creamed recently and I think that this stock is way undervalued. And I bought 1000 shares on Thursday, so I am putting money where my mouth is!
(AAPL) It is a good buy and nothing has changed
about it’s fundamentals, except it is much cheaper.
Well, I got out of all stocks I owned and bought 2/3rds in GLD and 1/3 in cash. With all these Billions being pushed into the market I can only think of “inflation” as in the German Mark and Italian fiat 50 years ago. No gold standard.
Joke’s on me however as Gold is going down.???
AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH Once again those brilliant graduates from Harvard and Wharton have conned the general public into ‘buying their crap’. Cramer may sound crazy but he isn’t too far off – Kellog, Caterpillar and if you are a gambler Morgan Stanley – Kellogs a staple, Caterpillar is global and unless the world hits a depression it will continue to grow and finally one of America’s ‘last standing’ investment banks. If the Chines pony up the Billions then the stock will triple and one last word, be careful of Muni Bonds because they too could fail 🙂 For those with cash, enjoy your new millions, because they are coming Thx RS
Buy PRU or LNC.
Insurance companies have been trashed along with anything financial. Both the above have options available. If you think they will evaporate with the rest of the market, you can buy insurance on them in the form of a put option.
Fanni Mae, only one way from here!
I like prospect capital (psec) because of the dididend potential
NFP
Solid cash flow from life insurance premiums. Excellent management. The only reason the stock is so low currently is because of the word “financial” in its name.
Knightsbridge Tankers has my vote (VLCCF). A low price earnings ratio coupled with very little long term debt makes this an attractive buy. And the dividend ain’t to shabby either.
What is cheap? Is KO, XOM cheap? I have zero idea of what the US government is doing: buying banks; buying 79.9% of AIG; tossing in billions here-and-there.
Some say we have deflation, othes are adamant about inflation. Home prices going down, unemployment going up.
CF, AAPL are named as “cheap”? There has to be some names off the beaten path that are a lot cheaper.
My “cheap” stock? Who knows. I’m going to watch “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” and think about it. 🙂
Beard Company, BRCO. I began buying this company in may at $0.50 per share and its now trading in the $4.00 to $6.00 range. BRCO owns a 23% interest in an Alaska Mining venture named Geohedral LLC in which I also have an interest. Geohedral has filed claims on 52,000 acres of black sand property and will complete core tests and assays in early spring. The existing known reserves have a net asset value exceeding $35 per outstanding BRCO share (9.4 million shares). These sands contain iron, titanium, gold and silver reserves. With completion of core tests, the expected net asset values could quadruple to well over $120 per share. Google BRCO and do you own diligence. This is one of a kind!
FRO
Very high dividend yield, fleet is all double-hull, oil will still be transported by sea in large amounts. Day-rates are down a lot, but come winter, should rise again. Re-invest the huge dividend, and You’ll do just fine.
CS, DSUP, FRE, FMD
Get ’em while they are cheap. Cemex, and Dayton superior will be among those that grow in the coming “depression” because governments will depend heavily on public works (roads, bridges) to keep people employed from the construction industry (which will be stagnant for a few years). FRE may be slow to crank up but once the banks are trusted again – money will flow as houses change hands and a large inventory of homes gets worked off. Those homes loans will have to go through the Freddie Mac machine (now owned 80pct by us taxpayers). The 20pct free market owners of stock in FRE will see that company stabilize and the value of the stock rise – perhaps dramatically. The govt. will ease out of its ownership as things improve. FMD is banking but specialized in student loans. This will be a critical resource for a lot of people that need to get re-educated or newly educated while they are otherwise unemployed the next few years.
SNDK
The SanDisk board recently turned down a $26 buyout offer from Samsung. SNDK had a low of 14.55 and closed at 15.92 yesterday. I suspect the board has something going on, because Samsung could be buying a lot of cheap shares here.
Northgate Minerals, NXG
This gold/copper miner has been diving for 6 months. Many stories behind the dive: Kemess South copper/gold mine winding down, no Kemess North approval; copper/gold price reversals on “end” of Asian miracle; but the big news, I think, is that they have $73M (face value) in auction rate securities structured by Lehman on their balance sheet.
Latest dive below $1 is due, I believe, to emotion about the Lehman CDS valuation of less than $.09 on the dollar to creditors. However, their alphabet soup exposure is ARS, not CDS, which are still paying interest. Upside possible from govt. guarantees, legal settlement, buyout, and of course metals breakout.
Bunge, BG
Everybody’s gotta eat. This is a vertically in-
tegrated agribusiness with the main focus on soy beans. Also in the fertilizer business.
National City/NCC is a $2 stock that is reportedly now adequately capitalized to endure this debacle. Wall Street Journal reports they are in talks with several banks to be acquired. Either scenario points to a situation where upside seems to outweigh downside risk. For contest purposes though, it may not play out by the election.
GM and GE, I know that’s two, but at today’s prices we are in a “two-fer”; two for the price of one. Anyway, a “billion” years ago a good friend, who was about 18 years old at the time, borrowed $500.00 from his dad and bought 1,000 shares of Chrysler, yep, 50 cents a share and ready for the toilet. That gamble started him on the road to becomming a multi-millionaire. There are many “Chryslers” out there ready for the plucking.
Sooooooo, Why GM and GE? They are huge and,in my opinion, under priced.But the “real” reason I am buying a lot of these is because they both start with the letter G.. GEE WHIZ! (this is as good of a reason as I’ve heard from the “experts” lol
TRA – Extremely low P/E with fantastic production/ demand. Just above 52 week low. Tremendous upside potential.
Avalon Ventures (AVVTF)
This is a mining company involved in mining rare earth elements (REEs). These are essential in many modern applications.
REEs are essential to the manufacture of Hybrid vehicles. However the world supply of REEs comes mainly from China, and Avalon’s most interesting prospect is in Canada. It is also cash rich for its size – a huge bonus during a credit crisis, Further, judging by past deals they have a really smart management.