Boring Portfolio Report
ANN ARBOR, MI (August 2) -- You remember that quiet Friday morning following
the 4th of July when the Labor Department reported that new jobs were hatching
like gnats, wages were up ... and the Dow flopped 115 points while bond traders
panicked?
Well, the folks at Labor take it all back. As of this morning, it turns out
that new jobs are not so plentiful after all, unemployment is up a tad, and
wages are down. Sorry 'bout that.
Huzzah! Salvation! The market soars! Bond yields plummet!
And you wonder why some people regard all this stocks stuff so cynically?
In any event, the Dow tacked on 85 points today. For the week, the DJIA recovered
207 points, the biggest weekly point advance in history; that works out to
3.8% net gain. The S&P 500 did even better, up 1.92% on the day and 4.2%
for the week.
As for the NASDAQ, it zoomed 26 points today, its second largest point gain
ever and equal to a 2.4% increment in value. For the week, the NASDAQ matched
the S&P 500's 4.2% rise.
The Boring Portfolio exhibited the essence of ennui today, lagging the market
averages a bit for the session but cumulating wins ploddy-ploddy to realize
a 4.4% gain for the week.
Six of eight Borefolio holdings advanced on Friday, with only PMSI and TXI
posting modest losses, both on light volume.
For the week, six Borefolio stocks showed net gains. One -- PMSI -- was
unchanged, despite its strong quarterly earnings report on Monday. (The full
financial statement to accompany that report has not yet been released, to
my knowledge.) Borders Group was off a fraction for the week, despite a nice
$3/4 gain today.
The big winner for the day and the week was (no surprise here) The Shaw Group.
SHAW shot up 17% over the past five days. It's reward was to get trimmed
back in the Borefolio, as it pretty much achieved my estimate of fair value
for the year. I sold 200 of the original 300 shares this morning, at $28
1/2, retaining 100 shares out of respect for SHAW's impressive momentum.
Cisco Systems and Oxford Health Plans both clocked gains above the two-dollar
mark today, on heavy volume and no specific news. Cisco is once again earning
its keep in the Borefolio, showing a net 3.66% gain since I acquired 100
shares on June 26. OXHP, which is slated to report quarterly earnings on
Tuesday morning, still has a ways to go.
Green Tree Financial continues to flourish, fertilized by easing interest
rates. GNT grew $ 7/8 on Friday and $2 5/8 for the week. Elsewhere in the
garden, the Spiders continued to fatten, apace of the S&P 500.
The Summer Games close on Sunday, to reopen four years hence in Oz. And Whatzit
dolls go on sale at 50% off on Monday.
(c) Copyright 1996, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is
for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting
to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent
of The Motley Fool.
Transmitted: 8/2/96
Friday, August 2, 1996
BGP + 3/4 ...CSCO +2 1/4 ...GNT + 7/8 ...OXHP +2...
PMSI - 3/8 ...SHAW +1 1/8 ...SPY +1 3/16...TXI - 5/8 ...
*Scroll down or expand screen for full portfolio accounting
Day Month Year History
BORING +1.49% 2.84% 7.72% 7.72%
S&P 500 +1.92% 3.52% 6.57% 6.57%
NASDAQ +2.38% 4.11% 8.06% 8.06%
Rec'd # Security In At Now Change
4/12/96 100 The Shaw Gr 18.84 29.38 55.91%
2/28/96 200 Borders Gro 22.51 33.13 47.14%
3/8/96 400 Prime Medic 10.07 12.50 24.15%
1/29/96 100 Texas Indus 54.50 66.38 21.79%
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 30.39 34.88 14.77%
6/26/96 100 Cisco Syste 53.90 55.88 3.66%
7/23/96 100 S&P Deposit 64.15 66.44 3.57%
5/24/96 100 Oxford Heal 48.02 37.63 -21.66%
Rec'd # Security Cost Value Change
2/28/96 200 Borders Gro 4502.49 6625.00 $2122.51
1/29/96 100 Texas Indus 5449.99 6637.50 $1187.51
4/12/96 100 The Shaw Gr 1884.16 2937.50 $1053.34
3/8/96 400 Prime Medic 4027.49 5000.00 $972.51
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 6077.49 6975.00 $897.51
7/23/96 100 S&P Deposit 6414.99 6643.75 $228.76
6/26/96 100 Cisco Syste 5389.99 5587.50 $197.51
5/24/96 100 Oxford Heal 4802.49 3762.50 -$1039.99
CASH $9693.43
TOTAL $53862.18