Festival of Stocks #88 - May 12, 2008

My blog is once again the proud host of the Festival of Stocks. If you don't know anything about the Festival of Stocks go to this link:

Festival of Stocks

It is a great way to promote your blog, so sign up to be a host.

Since it is a Festival of Stocks, we will start of with submissions about stocks.

Stocks

Our first entry is from James Cullen who runs a site called College Analysts. He is a student at Boston College majoring in Finance. His entry is on Ingersoll-Rand, and he likes the stock because of the Trane Deal and thinks the valuation is cheap relative to its growth rate. The full post is at Ingersoll-Rand (IR): Earnings Analysis.

The most loyal reader of my blog is Mark Perkins and his blog is called Stock Pursuit. This week he discusses Investools (SWIM), a controversial company. The full post is here at The Market Is Probably Overreacting to Investools (SWIM).

Jae Jun presents his views on AeroGrow (AERO) on his blog called Old School Value. He is a dyed in the wool Value Investor and the full post is at AeroGrow (AERO) Valuation

Dividend Growth Investor presents a thorough analysis of Dover Corp in his post here Dover Corp (DOV) Dividend Analysis. His main blog is Dividend Growth Investor, where he has many other entries on dividend paying stocks.

Ted Gottsegen weighs in on three stocks in the Metals Industry posted at The Heavy Metal Index: Unstoppable Stocks. The main blog is here at The StockMasters - Investing News and Analysis .

Stock Trader discusses Google in his post entitled Some Thoughts On Google (GOOG) » Free Stock Market Investing Tips. The full blog site is called Stock Tips.

Leon Gettler at Sox First wrotes about AIG and for once I actually agree with something Jim Cramer has to say. The post is at AIG shame file

AndyS at Saving to Invest writes about Melco PBL Entertainment (MPEL), a company that owns a casino in Macau. Read more here at Macau Play : Melco PBL (MPEL) - on the up and worth a gamble

Dividends4Life presents a thorough analysis of the Coca-Cola Company (KO) on his blog Dividends4Life. The full post is here at Stock Analysis: The Coca-Cola Company (KO)

Super Saver updates his readers on his portfolio at his post called Stock Purchase Update 5/5/08 - Google Rallies, Potash Falls. Read more at My Wealth Builder.

Warren Buffett

Only one post on Buffett this week, which is surprising considering the Omaha lovefest last week. Ray presents Warren Buffett’s Single Most Important Piece Of Advice For Stock Market Investors posted at his blog entitled Money Blue Book: Personal Finance Blog.

Sectors

Sajal's blog is called Fundamental insights and ideas (by Sajal). He is pushing the Consumer Staples Sector and expounds on his reasons at Three reasons to buy consumer staples right now! I have to admit that I don't fully understand his reasoning, as it seems that the arguments he gives would lead to more spending on Consumer Discretionary items, boosting those stocks. Read his post and decide for yourself.

Steve Alexander is a believer in the Magic Formula of Investing as popularized by Joel Greenblatt. His blog is called MagicDiligence - Optimizing Joel Greenblatts Value Stock Strategy, and his entry in the Festival is at
Magic Formula Business Sector #6: Consumer Services. Steve discusses the Magic Formula as it applies to this Sector.

Foreign Currency

Sagar Satapathy's blog is called Currency Trading.net, and he is clearly not a fan of Alan Greenspan and his tenure at the Federal Reserve. You can read the full post at 6 Ways Greenspan Caused the Current Economic Crisis.

Investment Strategy/Market Commentary

Ryan Taylor writes a blog called Millionaire Money Habits . Although his portfolio dropped 8% last quarter, he still believes in the advantages of holding stocks for the long term. The full post is at My Portfolio Dropped 8% - How’d Yours Hold Up?

AlexG is a Value Investor and a strong believer in the theory of "smart money" and he preaches that on his blog called Contrarian Value Investing. His post in this week's Festival tracks the investments of David Dreman, a noted and well known Value Investor. The full post is at Tracking David Dreman.

Brice Hogan talks about three main indexes at his post called Stock Market Indexes and Averages | Financialzip.com. His full blog is Financialzip.com.

FIRE Finance discusses the differences between Open and Closed End funds at Closed End Mutual Funds - Should We Stay Away From Them? His full blog is at FIRE Finance.

hank@myinvestingblog.com discusses strategies to pursue to cope with the Bear Market that he believes we are in. The post is entitled What do I do during a bear market? What do I invest in? | My Investing Blog. The main page of his blog is at My Investing Blog.

Kacper Wrzesniewski is a 25 year old from Poland and his blog is called Kacper Wrzesniewski. I think its fair to say that this domain was probably not taken when he went looking. He gives us ten simple rules for investing. Although they may seem quite obvious, many investors in their greed can forget them.

Bull Returns blog is called Stock Investment Resource. His post wades into the age old battle between Value and Growth Investing, presenting an innovative argument that the two are variations of the same strategy. The post is at Stock Investment Resource: Stock Market Investing Tips - Growth vs. Value Investing

GBlogger is working toward financial independence on his blog called CAN I GET RICH ON A SALARY. His entry reviews a book that gives some good advice on investing for the long term. The post is at The First Commandment of Stock Investing, According to Marcial — And How To Apply It

Steve Faber talks about getting your kids started in investing at his post called Investing for Kids. He has more good articles here at Getting Debt Free.

KCLau needs no introduction as he is a frequent contributor to the Festival of Stocks with his blog called KCLau's Money Tips. He discusses the value of insurance and urges people to keep up on your premiums, using a set of spreadsheets to prove its value. The full post is at Don’t be stupid! Keep paying.

The DINKS don't like Mutual Funds and they discuss their reasoning at the post entitled The Drawbacks of Mutual Funds.

In the spirit of shameless self promotion I am including two of my recent posts in the Festival. They are meant to be humorous, so don't take them too seriously but enjoy:

The Ten Commandments of Growth Investing

The Ten Commandments of Value Investing