February Idea of the Month: Love Snow

by Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe | February 13, 2015 12:01 am

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Source URL: https://www.stockgumshoe.com/2015/02/february-idea-of-the-month-love-snow/


27 responses to “February Idea of the Month: Love Snow”

  1. simong156 says:

    You’ve not been grabbed by the good doctor’s trail of a couple of pharma possibilities then, Travis; you’re more of a buy and hold man?

  2. traydon says:

    Thanks for bringing PLOW to my attention, Travis. Last year I searched for a way to play the high snows and bought CMP, which provides the majority of salt for de-icing in the USA. It has a slightly higher PE but yields 3% compared to PLOW’s 4%. I was in and out of CMP for a quick gain last year. PLOW seems to be on a faster growth trajectory as it is up about 50% in the last 2 or 3 years compared to CMP’s 20% share price appreciation. But CMP is a $3B company compared to PLOW’s $0.5B mkt cap.
    I always want to have a nice options market to earn extra money selling calls and get my stock called away at high prices and selling puts to maybe buy the stock on a dip. Both CMP and PLOW have active options markets, but CMP’s options strikes are in $5 increments rather than the 50 cent increment of PLOW’s options. It is always good to have more strike options for your options.
    Thanks again for bringing up PLOW.

  3. telcomonster says:

    Travis,

    Is the only way to buy PSH through the Amsterdam exchange?

  4. gesheddc says:

    Maybe this question is not for this forum. .. but since stock prices in the U.S. have gone up for so many years now, as you mention, Travis, and the European sector is down, is it the right time to be buying there and do you have any suggestions? Or suggestions for any other sector that might not have had the dramatic increase that we have seen in U.S. stocks recently?

  5. allisondbl says:

    J Kristen: -I- think it’s the right forum and a good question. I’ve been thinking about emerging markets as well, although right now my focus is looking into India rather than Europe, although the Indian exchanges (the BSE and the NSE) [and thus the stocks traded on them] have also had good runs recently. For companies headquartered in India, both traded on Indian exchanges and on US exchanges, I’m checking out a few ETFs like $EPI $INCO $INDA $INDL $INDY $INP $INXX $PIN $SCIF $SCIN or $SMIN. No decision made yet. Anyone got thoughts on this?

    But speaking of snow, although I very much like Travis’ Idea of [This] Month, I’ve been mulling over an idea for a couple of months from now when the snow vanishes and the damage shows up. At that point the roads are going to be a bloody nightmare which means paving – which is governmental – but requires surfaces such as asphalt and composite and other things which have to be bought from somewhere (although government budget time frames may run differently), so I’ve been thinking about companies like $VMC or $GVA or maybe even an ETF like $RTM.

    Anybody got any input on this idea or these companies/this ETF?

  6. vivianlewis says:

    for those who are willing to listen to me, and there are still a few, my newsletter, http://www.global-investing.com has a reporter doing nothing but India stock-picking, named Abhimanyu Sisodia. He writes up individual accessible Indian ADRs you can buy in the USA. I buy them. They tend to go up. Enough said.
    We are also benefiting from reporters covering Europe: in England, France, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain in particular. Travis mentioned that the Euro-land stocks tend to move in tandem with the currency. What that means is that the drop in the Euro over the past half year has zapped returns on listed ADRs. So his idea of buying a currency-hedged fund makes sense as long as you need the hedge because the US dollar is going up.
    Me, I think some of that rise may reverse this year if Euroland exports go up (because of the now very low euro). If a trend goes on long enough it reverses.
    I edit a newsletter called http://www.global-investing.com which some of you have opted to subscribe to. We do not do the come-on promotions Travis likes to write about when he is not celebrating the big February holidays in Massachusetts. We haven’t got the money for that. So I tell you about what we are up to here. If you don’t like it, you may insult me, but I am trying to find reasonably open and intelligent readers, which is what you all are.
    And yes, we have a biotech reporter who is not always on the same track as Dr KSS, and moreover doesn’t write as beautifully. But I trust her and buy her ideas, unlike Travis who has now indicated that from a combination of scruples about front-running and fear, he doesn’t follow the doctor’s stock prescriptions. I follow my writer’s but wait until the issue is out to avoid the front-running, unless the stock is so obscure I need to buy a test lot to make sure it can be bought.
    (Being a good writer and an MD is an old tradition: among the great writer-doctors was Conan Doyle, Schnitzler, William Carlos Williams, and Somerset Maughm. None of them also engaged in stock-picking, to my disappointment. )
    While on the subject of Europe, I am grateful to Travis to have found out how to buy the Amsterdam listed fund run by Bill Ackman, Pershing Square Fund. I kept trying to find it with my European broker at E-trade and he came up empty-handed even when the SEC rules against buying a foreign ipo within the first 90 days had expired. What Etienne could not do for me, Travis did. Dank U Travis.
    I am thinking of buying a snow clearing stock myself, although here in Nieuw Amsterdam the plows are put in front of the garbage trucks to clear the streets. Which reminds me, does anyone else remember the was a criminal was caught by Sherlock Holmes because of how he spelled that word?

  7. kmb0202 says:

    Vivian, I looked at your website, which looks interesting, but is expensive. Any chance that you might consider giving Irregulars the opportunity to take a one-day look at your archives for less than $50?

  8. advantedges says:

    Travis. ONLY way to buy Biotech, unless you know the company. Buy an index or a good fund. Vanguard has a fund that has several top picks, but also is diversified: POGRX.

    Meanwhile, what is the deal with East Coasters? Let it Snow, but we are in the West where we want your snow, and don’t need PLOW! This Weather Pattern will change, and you will need an air conditioner! Buy SO or another beaten down energy stock. Forget SnowPlows.

  9. A little off-topic (just a little), but I have an idea of the month, maybe of the year. I sent it out today (Saturday, Feb 21st) to my service, but also posted it for everyone at my Free Public Chart Archive. Here is how it begins, followed with a link to the complete article:
    “Apple and Tesla
    sitting in a tree,
    K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
    First comes love,
    then comes marriage,
    then comes baby
    in an electric carriage!”
    http://www.allantrends.com/category/public-archives/

  10. biotechlong (btl) says:

    Speaking of snow, I just saw a segment on Fox News (Saturday edition) that featured a Wisconsin man who built a 22-foot snowman for his daughter. Can you imagine the impossible standard that he has set for other dads in the snow belt ?
    Long $PLOW.

  11. Lannas says:

    $EBIX is a possible Short Squeeze play. This has been a hated stock for years and has been a short squeezed before. The shorts do not like the CEO and have ganged up on him for years. EBIX has had legal issues for years but seems to work their way out each time without much damage to bottom line. They make money and pay a small div. and grow by acquiring small company’s in a fragmented market. Short interest is 40% of float, 12M shares. http://shortsqueeze.com/?symbol=ebix&submit=Short+Quote%99
    The stock price has had a good move up the last week but only one day of high volume.
    When/if the shorts start covering Ebix could have a big move. I am long and have played this stock in short squeeze’s twice before. If it happens you have to get out fast or have a target with sell limit order.
    “A leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial and healthcare industries, Ebix, Inc., (EBIX) provides end-to-end solutions ranging from infrastructure exchanges, carrier systems, agency systems and risk compliance solutions to custom software development for all entities involved in the insurance industry.”

  12. football says:

    I just signed up and became a member, I have been reading the post and I am very interested in investing and reading about other investors idea and opinions. I need to find a good broker for a new bee, HELP PLEASE!!

  13. football says:

    I am not really sure,I hate to say it but I know very little either. I believe I would like a online broker, could I get infor on the difference.

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