Investments sites to study on the internet

[Old Cardinal]

I have received several request about investment strategy...I would like to share some practical sites. I usually deal in investment hybrids that most brokers know little about. We will start out real simple and I would suggest you start a new folder in your "favorites" to composite these sources in-
#1 www.globeinvestor.com/series/top (http://www.globeinvestor.com/series/top) 100....This has 75 top income trust(high dividends). About ten of these are on various USA exchanges, the rest are on Canadian exchanges.
#2 Go to Google search engine and look up "Dividend Detective" You can navigate to the "50 top dividend paying stocks"; however, they show over a 1000 paying good dividends....
NOW WE ARE GOING TO SHIFT GEARS AND LOOK AT OIL & GAS STOCKS
#3 www.mcdep.com (http://www.mcdep.com) This fellow named Kurt Wuulf is the worlds most knowledgeable expert in this field, in my opinion. He makes "Buy" recommendations...I am planning to buy some CEO come Monday morning.
#4 www.oilpatchupdates.com (http://www.oilpatchupdates.com) This gives the latest info on the whole oil industry. A good tool to evaluate stocks in this field.
I will send more info after you have had a chance to digest this assorted information.

[Old Cardinal]

OK we are ready for the second study---
Where is the best "quote" info, you may be asking?
Here are my favorites:
www.finance.yahoo.com (http://www.finance.yahoo.com) This has a lot of basic info available, included clues as to which stocks are showing favorable indicators of various types.....
www.finance.Lycos.com (http://www.finance.Lycos.com) This site makes ratings from strong buy to sell- The major use; however, is that you can navigate to find out how the "insiders" in the Company are investing--either buying of selling...Don't buy if the management is selling; but take a second look if the insider-management is buying...
www. alert-ipo.com This is a site that informs you of Initial Public Offerings being presented in the immediate future. It also give some speculative ratings on how they see these new issues. IPOs are quite speculative, this is risky business, it helps if you know a lot about the Company that is going public. For instants, Symbol CONN just recently went public, and I knew a lot about the Conn's Appliance Co. that started in Beaumont, TX many decades ago. They were a good steady Company with a long retail history. I did not buy that one because I found another Co. with a "strong buy" rating more attractive, at that time. In a bull market, you are choosing between good Companies with good earning and good growth prospects.
Finally, Here is a great site to send to you daily e-mail info- of your choosing. Remember brand new positive information can be invaluable in this endeavor--
newsalerts-noreply@google.com....You can ask for info such as- hot stocks, earnings surprises, top gainers, high dividends, "strong buy" ratings, china stock updates, etc: Presto! each day they send you stock info on Companies that some brokers have decided are "strong buy" rated Companies. I hope that this info is helpful in the future for 3A down low folks..

[fred grunden]

Thanks, Old Card for the time and effort you have put into this. The only sight of the ones you've listed that I've had previous experience with is YahooFinance. I plan to look at all these sights. (Just as soon as OK and the LSU tigers get off the football field :D ) My last purchase was a commodity based index fund about one month ago. I need to see what mad cow has done to it. That is the kind of investing luck I have. :mad:

[Old Cardinal]

Fred: I'm watching the game too-its halftime now...Our Friends across the Sabine River (LSU) are controlling the game thusfar...It's kind of funny OU has only 5 Oklahoma kids on the field..Fred, The safest stock that I have researched lately is CKX...Calcasieu Land and Oil Co....They are paying a 4% dividend also. They are an old Company located in Lake Charles that recently went on to the American exchange. A good stong balance sheet....Another site of interest is www.amex.com (http://www.amex.com) for assorted info.

[fred grunden]

Yes, OU is the best Texas team outside the borders of Texas. Has been that way a long time.
My wife used to work in doctors offices in Lake Charles and met a lot of the important people in
Lake Charles such as W.T Burton who bought up huge amounts of land in S. La during the depression for a few cents per acre. Oil discoveries turned it into valuable real estate.
Have family that will be hurt bad by drop in cattle prices. Registered stock may be the only way to go in the future. Timber industry already
dwindling and cattle reeling, not good for Texas.
That big paper mill in Lufkin shut down last month. Layed off 600 people. Might be some real estate bargains in a few months if people can't find decent jobs there. Am going to look into Calcasieu Land and Oil.

[Old Cardinal]

That exact name is Calcasieu Real Estate & Oil Co...They have a strong balance sheet and are very thinly traded. The major statistic that I like is the price/book value ratio-its $7.10 divided by 3.46 book value; or 2.06 ratio!...I am being quite aggressive in this bull market lately. I sold Trinity Industries today and bought PETS, CEO, and IMGG. After looking over 50+ stocks lately, I settled on these because of their growth potential, mostly. I tell you what, if the raging bull market starts to turn south, I will sell off heavy and again join the shelter of CKX types and high-grade cummlative preferred stocks with 6% interest-- and high S & P & Moody ratings... Another good site to study is www.quantumonline.com (http://www.quantumonline.com) I turned in a lot of data and info in to Donald Doan, when this website was being formed. It gives a large array of things like Master Trust, Royalty Trust etc: When the market was bad and unpredictable(1999-2002) some of us stayed invested in these various safe instruments-- content with the safety and the 5.5-12.5% interest they pay... I agree on the cattle thing Fred, a move to top-quality registered cattle pays dividends in the future. For one thing, all the bull calves born can be sold for Herd Bulls as an added revenue stream. I wonder how Pudlugger is fairing, he is in the cattle business?

[fred grunden]

Thanks again, Old Card. I should be busy for a week studying all this stuff.

[Old Cardinal]

Fred, Look over PTF and TRAD, I want to do some due diligence on these two. Initially, they look pretty good...PTD is an Canadian Oil Trust that's on the NYSE. It's paying 11.4% dividends. It's Proven Reserve Life Index is 9.1 years, which means-based on present discoveries the assets will be profitable for at least that period. I have yet to see one that this Index is not adjusted over and over again to longer lifetimes of profitability. ANYONE ELSE HAVE A STOCK THAT THEY THINK HAS UPWARD POTENTIAL?

[fred grunden]

I don't see anyone else adding to our thread. Maybe we are the only semi-retired folks on this board. I thought about Canadian energy trusts after reading about them in Barron's last July. Saved the article. Then I put money into Nuveen funds and didn't follow up on the trusts. The article was positive as a whole and featured ERF, NCN, PGH, PWI, and PVX. Also warned about the depletion of the assets (as I know you understand), and the 15% Canadian withholding tax which is recoupable as a credit on our US income
tax. So that apparently knocks our return down between 1-2% as compared to US stock dividends, but it still beats most everything else. If we get in and out soon enough to beat the depletion, then we should be all right. However, if oil prices plunge (not likely) , then the share price of the trust plunges, exactly what happened in 1998 when the price of oil plunged to $10.00/barrel. Of course, there are currency valuations which have helped the share price upward as the dollar has plunged. Was that PTF or PTD on your stock symbol? I will look into it.

[CatsDen]

It doesn't sound like you are big fans of equity trading. What type of investment strategy are you following (long term, minimal risk-short term, high volitility, etc)? For anyone who did not have the opportunity to ride AMR out of their near debacle, or even NT these past 3 days....you might want to consider studying some more equity trading.

[fred grunden]

I am playing the retirement game. Low interest rates have forced me to look at Reits, Energy Trusts, and such types of investments. I used to trade a lot, short term, but not so much now. But I am always open to suggestion. Thanks for joining our thread. We thought we were the only 3A fans who had an interest in investing.

[Old Cardinal]

Fred: It's PTF....That is a new Symbol change. I bought it today along with TRAD. I set up a number of limit sales on various Cummulative Preferred Stocks that were way above the issuing amount. I bought all the Canadian Trust that you mentioned except NCN some time back; boy am I glad I did!......Sir to answer your question about methods- I bought my first stock when I was 19 years of age and taking a senior level investment course in college. I had hit a couple of big days while out shrimping and had some extra money. I had the only textbooks in the college that smelled like shrimp!.... I have tried every avenue of investing except options and commodities. I invest according to the changes in the market conditions as I see them. After 40+ years in the market I invest in strategies that few brokers would approve of; so that is why I am totally self-directed. I cannot tell you what my strategy will be even next month because you have to be quick to make reasoned directional adjustments. Sometimes I daytrade like mad and some times I stand pat. My second best two weeks were the weeks right after 9-1-1 when things were jumping around excessively.

[Gilmer Buckeye]

I am not retired, semi or otherwise, but I can recommend a mutual fund based on what it has done for me in the past three or four years. It is called the Longleaf Partners Fund. Even if you take its valuation as of the Dow's peak (11,700+ intraday) in January of 2000, it has still more than doubled in value since then. And "value" is the key term as that is Mason Hawkins' style and discipline of investing. He is of the Warren Buffett, Graham and Dodd school.

I think this market could fizzle out in a hurry. The U.S. dollar is the wild card. If it loses its status as the world's reserve currency, all bets are off. Right now the stock market is trending up even as the dollar is declining. That cannot continue indefinitely.

One thing no objective observer in the investment community can fault Clinton on was his hiring of Robert Rubin as Treasury Secretary. Being a brilliant Jewish Wall Street investment banker, he knew his industry's first priority was to keep the dollar strong. This hurt domestic manufacturing, but since there's no way to compete with the coolie labor in China without Americans agreeing to become coolies themselves, I can't see that debasing our currency is going to bring our manufacturing sector back. It's only going to lead to market instability.

<small>[ January 10, 2004, 08:42 AM: Message edited by: Gilmer Buckeye ]</small>

[Rabbit'93]

Ok all you investment guru's here's a scenario...
if you were 28 again, had your own business, but also worked for a major telecommunications co. making decent $$...what types of investments would you look into. I have $$ in our co's stock purchasing plan and 401k, but I'm wanting to invest in the big market...low risk, high risk, long term short term. Where would you put your money so that several years down the road you could be living comfortably. I'm not a big investment guy but I think I know enough to get myself into trouble. wink

<small>[ January 10, 2004, 01:14 PM: Message edited by: Rabbit'93 ]</small>

[Old Cardinal]

To Rabbit: I looked your situation over and since you are just starting out I would suggest SWDIX It's a 1/2 year old mutual fund that is a little aggressive and only puts in stocks to their list that are paying reasonable dividends as part of the strategy package. SWDIX has climbed from $10.00 to $11 something- or 27% PLUS its paying a 3.4% dividend! Call "Derrick" at Charles Schwabb 1-713-2172610, he can discuss the details...Meanwhile, get started studing what sites I have presented here. Make up some mock stock groupings you favor (after doing your own research) and see how you do! Make several such list, one each week after doing further research....In starting from scratch, the mutual funds are the only way you can spread-your-risk! Let us know from time to time how your mock investment portfilios are doing.

<small>[ January 10, 2004, 07:12 PM: Message edited by: Old Cardinal ]</small>

[fred grunden]

Gilmer Buckeye
Varsity
Member # 2496

Rate Member posted January 10, 2004 08:40 AM
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I am not retired, semi or otherwise, but I can recommend a mutual fund based on what it has done for me in the past three or four years. It is called the Longleaf Partners Fund. Even if you take its valuation as of the Dow's peak (11,700+ intraday) in January of 2000, it has still more than doubled in value since then. And "value" is the key term as that is Mason Hawkins' style and discipline of investing. He is of the Warren Buffett, Graham and Dodd school.

I think this market could fizzle out in a hurry. The U.S. dollar is the wild card. If it loses its status as the world's reserve currency, all bets are off. Right now the stock market is trending up even as the dollar is declining. That cannot continue indefinitely.

One thing no objective observer in the investment community can fault Clinton on was his hiring of Robert Rubin as Treasury Secretary. Being a brilliant Jewish Wall Street investment banker, he knew his industry's first priority was to keep the dollar strong. This hurt domestic manufacturing, but since there's no way to compete with the coolie labor in China without Americans agreeing to become coolies themselves, I can't see that debasing our currency is going to bring our manufacturing sector back. It's only going to lead to market instability.

I also am worried about the dollar's decline. It has gone too far. Deficit spending is a big part of the picture. Bush may be trying to pay for the war with inflation which I feel will happen if we don't be more fiscally conservative. Didn't work for LBJ during Vietnam War. We had rampant inflation during the 70's that few on this board are old enough to remember. 20% interest rates during the Carter administration. Inflation can be the friend of the mortage homeowner but the enemy of retired people trying to live on a fixed income. You can never save enough to guarantee a nice retirement.
I traded a lot during the early and mid 90's.
Had real time quotes on my PC via satelite. My best trading day in equities was the first day the market dropped 500 pts in one day. I loaded up on a lot of Blue chips like IBM, and GE and such. Still own some of the GE but mostly I sold and was able to make good money within a few days. I never had any fancy strategy. I traded support and resistance using charts. Stopped all that in '97. A heart attack and a new business partner kept me too busy to trade. Now I am trying to learn to invest for steady income and that's why Old Card's PTF sounds good to me.
But I will tell you my favorite symbols. They are TD and PAT, especially if they are on the Jasper side of a scoreboard. :D

[fred grunden]

Rabbit 93, I think you are smart to look into serious investing. Old Card's advice sounds good to me. Also, if you do not have a broker, get with a discount broker. They just get cheaper all the time. When I was in my mid 20's, there was no such thing as discount brokers. I got a few DRIP plans going and it was a good way to dollar cost average. I only chose dividend paying stocks for this and let the dividends do all the new purchases. Now I'm in my 60's and wouldn't start a drip plan at my age. The downside is when you want to sell, you can't pick the time or the price. I am not too familiar with many internet investing sites, but plan to learn. If you feel you need the advice of a full service broker, I have liked AG Edwards better than Merrill Lynch or
some others I have had in the past. Also, learn about exchange traded funds (ETF's). You can buy all the stocks on the DOW or S&P on the amex with the diamonds and spiders.

[callandraise]

I have been in the market since 64 with moderate sucess most of the time but after the last couple of years I've sort of developed the attitude of the little mouse"I don't want no cheese I just want out of the trap".

[Old Cardinal]

Hopefully you have had time to scan the websites already presented...Well here goes- www.oilandgasinvestors.com (http://www.oilandgasinvestors.com) Now this is a more professional site to study the makeup and changes in the O & G industry. Look for many stocks to soar in this arena in 2004. The world is begging for fuel to run those new autos worldwide......www.mreits.com &gt;&gt; This site is the ultimate for the novice to understand REITs There is a list of 10 of them with dividends of 9.43% to 11.86% When the brokers were touting all the dot.coms and the stock market bubble burst, many of us were safe-harbored in the better REITs, getting the interest, when the home and other building markets continued to be relatively viable. I would say the REITs of better quality are still a sound stable investment...A good speculative mutual seems to be VGSIX.....A little speculation might include LNG, TOT, BP, BJS SII, SLB for those that do due diligence and have a strong heart....
If you have never read a Prospectus on a new Initial Public Offer-that would be good training also. I received one that I have ask for today from Crosstex Energy Services, L.P, 2501 Cedar Springs, Suite 600, Dallas, TX 75201. They are coming on to the market with a stock symboled "XTXI"....You may want to drop them a postcard, asking for a Prospectus, to get familiar with the IPO market methods..

<small>[ January 11, 2004, 08:08 PM: Message edited by: Old Cardinal ]</small>

[fred grunden]

I get bogged down in a hurry reading a prospectus.
I never had any business courses, only math and sciences, and medical courses. I know people that can read annual reports and decide when a company has too much debt, etc. I can only determine if they have improved over last yr. That is why I liked short term trading. All you have to know is the direction the share price is heading and when the earnings will be announced because you don't want to be in the stock as earnings are announced.
Now I am trying to learn some new things in a market I really don't like. But I'm happy it has gone up so much this past yr. When you're young, so what if the market tanks, you just buy more shares. When you're old, you may not live long enough to get your money back.

I never bought an IPO. It might be an experience I could learn from so think I will write for the prospectus.

[fred grunden]

Old Card, is that oilandgas url supposesd to take me to Directory Company?

[Old Cardinal]

Fred, I am sorry-that site is our-of-order or something. I too get the directory page!...Well here is another site of interest [URL=http://www.paramco.net a product of Paramco Financial Group Inc."PFDE" Now this is the wild wild OTCBB site for the penny stocks. It has stocks like AMEP that are micro-caps in the Oil & Gas field plus all sorts of stuff! Navigate to the "Gainers(over $2.00)" Boy now this is wild speculation at its best! Every once in a while I throw maybe $400 into one of these-one thing is for sure you will lose it all are make a gain! They have a message board or something called panacopnogasandoilenergy that comes up somewhere on this site-maybe I will check it out sometime. Actually I saw a stock Co. on here that caught my eye and I am going to do a little research. Who knows what I might find?

<small>[ January 12, 2004, 03:38 PM: Message edited by: Old Cardinal ]</small>

[CatsDen]

Fred, you might want to check with your brokerage firm and ask about their DRIP eligible securities. With Ameritrade, as long as the dividends are enough to purchase a full share and the company participates, then you can take advantage of the DRIP. Since the shares are still held in street name-you can trade in or out of the position with no delay and no hassle. Participation in the DRIP is free and only requires a phone call to the Ameritrade client service number.

I have recently (within the last two weeks)had much success with trading NT, GSPG, and RHAT.

<small>[ January 13, 2004, 06:39 AM: Message edited by: CatsDen ]</small>

[fred grunden]

CatsDen
Varsity
Member # 3114

posted January 13, 2004 06:39 AM
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Fred, you might want to check with your brokerage firm and ask about their DRIP eligible securities. With Ameritrade, as long as the dividends are enough to purchase a full share and the company participates, then you can take advantage of the DRIP. Since the shares are still held in street name-you can trade in or out of the position with no delay and no hassle. Participation in the DRIP is free and only requires a phone call to the Ameritrade client service number.

I have recently (within the last two weeks)had much success with trading NT, GSPG, and RHAT.

[ January 13, 2004, 06:39 AM: Message edited by: CatsDen ]

Hello CatsDen! Actually the drip plans I was referring to predated the kind you are talking about. I have your kind of drip going in my retirement IRA. I can sell it instantly. But before that became part of the investment landscape and when I didn't have money for a brokerage account, I did the old fashioned drip plan where you sent money to the company and for no fee at all, they set up an account, purchased stock for you and sent you a quarterly report. I guess those were the good old days. As a teenager I also had a drip plan. I burned "drip" gasoline in my car, a '48 Chevy Coupe. This was in the late 1950's. The main part of my plan was how to get in and out of Niel Field without getting caught.

[Old Cardinal]

Fred, That was just great! I also ran "Moonlight gas" in an old 1949 Ford Flathead 8. The folks in the oil patch thought it was OK for the kids to run drip gas out of the entrainment separators out in the oil field....I hope folks have had time to scan the above info: Here is some additional sites that you can find on Google--
OTC Bullitin, Candlestick Trading forum, Greater China Stocks, Best Dividend Stocks, RJFalkner and Company, Top IPO News, USX China Index, Up Down, and The NASDAQ Stock Alert.

[fred grunden]

Old Card, we keep finding more things in common all the time. Yes, the sherrif's deputy knew folks were coming and going in the oil field, but he knew it was kids and he always parked in a very conspicuous place. He never gave us any problem. If you knew the right people, you could buy drip gasoline by the barrell to run in your farm equipment. Today, I hope there is better security at the fields, not just because of terrorists, but because some of our young people do not appreciate anything and would tear things up.
What do you think about the mortgage banks, like
Annaly Mtg (NLY) that just boosted their dividend to 10%? I have spent several hours looking at the
quantumonline sight. Thanks for that info.

[Old Cardinal]

That is amazing Fred, I also had derived that NLY was a good choice and bought it several days ago!.... I did an elimination-criteria study this morning-- using stiff criteria on 3400 stocks. I worked the list down to 32 stocks and the last eliminator was that they had to have a 2:1 Price to Book value, or better. At this point only 4 remained VLO, DVN, CTL and AET...So far, they stand up pretty good as safe investments...I choose a high-income PHH over a couple of other good ones- PHF, GHI, and CFD. All four have outstanding dividends. It's a shame so many people have their savings down at the Bank or Savings & Loans at 1.5% interest; and those same businesses invest in good stuff like these funds!... I like NHY and XEC for the long-term in Oil stocks, based on a little research today... I read tonight that Forbes issued a positive statement on DVN after the market closed today!

<small>[ January 16, 2004, 08:22 PM: Message edited by: Old Cardinal ]</small>

[Old Cardinal]

OK, here are some more sites to ponder...I would suggest to the younger people that even have the slightist interest in future investing to go back through this info and put it on to a disk for future reference! Well here goes---Wall Street News, The Street.com, The Nasdaq Stock Market, RealMoney.com, OTC Bulletin Board, MSN Money-Stock Scout, www.wallstreetnewsalert.com, (http://www.wallstreetnewsalert.com,) Hot List Reuters Investor, finance.canada.com, www.forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com) (then go to Companies by State)....This array of information cannot be found haphazardly-to save all of it to study on rainly days might be a springboard into a sparkling investment future....You also might want to look at www.ipocentral.com (http://www.ipocentral.com) This is to be studied with extreme caution IPOs can be a minefield for the novice!

<small>[ January 19, 2004, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: Old Cardinal ]</small>

[fred grunden]

Another sight I like is www.cbs.marketwatch.com. (http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com.)
They have better charts than some.

[Old Cardinal]

Hopefully everyone has has a chance to catch up on this info presented thusfar...I would like to recommend a book written 14 years ago--"One Up On Wall Street" by Peter Lynch. You can get it cheap used at Bibliofind.com, via Google. This book teaches how amaturers can be just as successful(or more)! The particular climate is approximately correct for you to benefit from his wise teachings....I have been looking this weekend at some favorable stocks, here they are---MFA (11.0% dividend), IMH (11.18 %), TMA (9.26%). Also some "strong buy" recommendations by others to study are: RIO, BP, N, MSCC, SFA, SCUR, TKR and RTP. And now for you Mississippi-Gamble-Types::: IXC, IYR, and wait about two weeks for this one to settle down and look at ESLR..... Has anyone done any research on their own-What did you find?

<small>[ January 24, 2004, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: Old Cardinal ]</small>

[Old Cardinal]

I forgot to mention....winning investing.com It's an excellent training site for dividend prone investors. Be sure to look over Tom's DEATH LIST and see if you have any stocks that have made that catagory.....Remember "You can't serve God and money" But through good Stewardship you can serve God with proper use of money.

[fred grunden]

Old Cardinal, it doesn't seem like anyone has done any investment research they want to talk about. I have been gone most of the last 2 weeks.
Haven't had time for much. All I have been looking at lately is exchange traded funds. I think I am only interested in defensive measures.
I have parted with an old friend, Bank One. It got too good to keep. Being bought out at a premium took the share price to over $50.00 and often when banks merge, the following year they
don't fare as well. So maybe I can buy it back cheaper in a year or so.

[Old Cardinal]

I looked back over this info and it would make a good source for a term paper, LOL....I got to thinking about a couple of websites that let you enter a symbol and then see how analyst preceive the future of that stock. There is a number of varying analyst with different prespectives. What I like about this scheme is that it gives-- #1 short term #2 medium term #3 long term projections. It indicates whether to sell, hold or buy; based on your investment objectives. Why don't you feed your portfolio through this acid- test and see what the results are?....IS ANYONE STILL INTERESTED IN THIS TRAINING SITE OR HAS IT RUN ITS COURSE?