Boring Portfolio Report
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Nov. 21) -- The market spent Thursday digesting some of
the belly-busting gains its accumulated so far in this month of Thanksgiving.
The Dow fell 12, while the S&P 500 slipped 1.2 (-0.16%). The Nasdaq lost
more than half a percentage point in heavy trading.
The Boring Portfolio did just fine, picking up 0.62% in value and welcoming
Oracle as a member of the Boring bunch. Breaking with tradition, I managed
not to purchase ORCL at its intra-day (and all-time) high of $49 1/2 this
morning. Instead, I snagged 100 shares at $48 3/8 around lunchtime. Had I
waited a bit longer, I could have done better yet, as the stock dipped in
the afternoon, to close at $47 1/8 (bid).
My objective in purchasing ORCL today was not to time an entry point, though.
Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see the market retreat after its
dramatic run. My objective was to buy shares of one of the premier technology
companies on earth, and at a fair price. Mission accomplished.
One thing about having Oracle in the Borefolio is that we won't often lack
for news. Today's "Investor's Business Daily" carried a story by reporter
Michele Hostetler asking the musical question, "Does Informix Database Actually
Leapfrog Oracle?"
According to the story, Informix Corp. will debut its new database server
software next month. The product is based on technology Informix acquired
when it bought Illustra Information Technologies for $400 million (40-times
1995 revenues) in February of this year. Informix claims that the new "Universal
Server" is better than Oracle 7.3 for storing multimedia data -- such as
graphics, video, and sound -- that is essential to Internet servers.
In the IBD story, Informix CEO Philip White says the Universal Server will
"reinvent" the company and "could propel Informix past Oracle in the Unix
and NT database markets." Informix could certainly use some reinventing.
The company has been struggling of late as profits have failed to keep pace
with revenues. The stock is down 40% from its highs early this year, and
EPS for 1996 will probably be several cents below last year's $0.76.
That said, most folks who know a whole lot more about the industry than I
do agree that Informix is correct in identifying what it has to do to compete
with Oracle. Also, Informix's "DataBlade" software modules that snap into
the database to add special features feel like the right way to go in the
Age of Java.
As the IBD story notes, "The company's Universal Server vision could go over
well with customers who are looking for an alternative to Oracle." How many
customers that is, and why they might be looking for an alternative was left
unstated.
Moreover, Oracle is hardly kippin' on its back. In its own press release
today, Oracle announced that it has teamed up with Canada-based Vicom Multimedia
Inc. to deliver "the world's first fully integrated, collaborative, multimedia
publishing system."
According to the press release, Oracle Video Server (which is part of Oracle's
own "Universal Server") will provide the platform for Vicom's NEREUS, "a
multimedia publishing system for the cost-effective production and delivery
of large-scale, media-rich, high-volume multimedia applications." The joint
Oracle and Vicom solution enables customers to author, input, and manage
large multimedia productions filled with dynamic content -- the kind of stuff
found increasingly in both intranet and Internet environments.
To make sure that the point is not missed, the press release quotes Dale
Hardy, Vicom's senior vice president: "We chose to partner with Oracle over
Informix...."
For those of you looking for a project to keep you busy over the Thanksgiving
week-end, trial versions of the Oracle Video Server are available for free
download on Oracle's web site at http://www.oracle.com/.
There's not much else to report on Boring stocks today. I note that Green
Tree Financial quietly broke back above the $40 mark with a fine $ 7/8 gain.
With bond yields at an 8-month low, something tells me that money is growing
on Green Tree.
Lastly, I congratulate the hardy souls who stuck with former Borefolio holding
Kulicke & Soffa through the long, hard year of 1996.
The Klunkers, as they call themselves, established sort of a cyber support-group
in the K&S folder in AOL's Fooldom. As KLIC dipped into the single digits,
the Klunkers kept up their spirits by offering a sometimes lunatic, sometimes
insightful, and always irreverent commentary on the travails of the company
and its management. K&S reported a narrower than expected quarterly loss
last night and presumably offered encouraging words to analysts today, as
the stock shot up 19% on huge volume, bringing KLIC pretty much back to where
it was earlier this year -- and with a far more encouraging trajectory. Salud!
Thursday, November 21, 1996
Stock Change Bid
--------------------
BGP + 1/2 35.63
CSL +1 3/8 56.75
CSCO - 1/2 65.88
GNT + 7/8 40.63
ORCL -1 1/4 47.13
OXHP +1 3/4 52.88
PMSI - 1/8 11.38
SLR + 1/4 58.38
Day Month Year History
BORING +0.62% 4.15% 16.94% 16.94%
S&P 500 -0.16% 5.31% 19.48% 19.48%
NASDAQ -0.54% 2.99% 20.86% 20.86%
Rec'd # Security In At Now Change
2/28/96 200 Borders Gr 22.51 35.63 58.25%
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 30.39 40.63 33.69%
6/26/96 100 Cisco Syst 53.90 65.88 22.22%
3/8/96 400 Prime Medi 10.07 11.38 12.97%
5/24/96 100 Oxford Hea 48.02 52.88 10.10%
8/13/96 100 Carlisle C 52.65 56.75 7.79%
10/15/96 100 Solectron 54.52 58.38 7.06%
11/21/96 100 Oracle Cor 48.65 47.13 -3.13%
Rec'd # Security In At Value Change
2/28/96 200 Borders Gr 4502.49 7125.00 $2622.51
2/2/96 200 Green Tree 6077.49 8125.00 $2047.51
6/26/96 100 Cisco Syst 5389.99 6587.50 $1197.51
3/8/96 400 Prime Medi 4027.49 4550.00 $522.51
5/24/96 100 Oxford Hea 4802.49 5287.50 $485.01
8/13/96 100 Carlisle C 5264.99 5675.00 $410.01
10/15/96 100 Solectron 5452.49 5837.50 $385.01
11/21/96 100 Oracle Cor 4864.99 4712.50 -$152.49
CASH $10570.94
TOTAL $58470.94
Transmitted: 11/21/96