Boring Portfolio Report
Monday, February 5, 1996

There's not a whole lot of news to report today for the Borefolio, which is the way it ought to be, I suppose.

Texas Industries added another notch, up $1/4 to $59 on the bid side with volume of 30,000 shares. In my justification for purchasing TXI one week ago today, I offered the prognostication that "TXI should cross $60 by mid-year." Looks like we may have to change that time frame to "by mid-week!"

Kulicke & Soffa added $1/2 as the tech sector extended a nice mid-winter run. KLIC closed bidding $23 1/4. Volume was a decent 561,700 shares. As I mentioned last week, I really don't expect to see a whole lot of movement in KLIC until later in the month, when the semiconductor industry's book-to-bill for January is reported and (on Feb. 21) K&S presents some of its latest equipment to a group of industry analysts.

Rounding out our little trio is Green Tree Financial. Green Tree fell $1/2 today, to $28 5/8 bid. Volume was 973,900 shares--nearly 70% heavier than a typical day for GNT. Earlier in the day, GNT was trading as low as $28, but the stock recovered somewhat as an overall market rally took hold in mid-afternoon. There was no news on the wires to account for the heavy volume in GNT, or for the drop. The decline may reflect continuing concerns about consumers' purchasing power. Or not. In any event, I'm confident that GNT will do well over the coming months, once we consumers emerge from our igloos and start buying stuff again.

There's no shortage of terrific stocks out there in the marketplace. Terrific stocks selling at attractive prices are somewhat less plentiful. Nonetheless, with the help of folks who have posted some very worthwhile suggestions in the "Boring Stocks" folder, I hope to put a chunk of the port's cash to work this week. Stay tuned. Or better yet, join the conversation!

--Greg Markus (MF Boring)

Today's Moves

GNT   -   1/2
KLIC  +   1/2
TXI   +   1/4