TheWednesday, Boring Portfolio Report - Friday, March 14, 1997

Boring Portfolio Report
Friday, March 14, 1997
by Greg Markus (MF Boring)

ESCANABA, Mich. (March 14, 1997) -- Last night's recap was cobbled together within site of Lake Superior, just before a major snowstorm moved in. Tonight's comes to you from the shore of Lake Michigan, about 80 miles to the south. The airport in Marquette has been completely socked in, so we decided to head south to Escanaba -- known by the natives as the Banana Belt on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Yah, sure.

Maybe I'll make it out of here, maybe not. But it takes more than a few snowflakes to derail the Boring recap.

A benign reading on Friday for the monthly Producer Price Index eased traders' concerns about creeping inflation and consequent rising interest rates. February's decline comes on the heels of January's 0.3% drop -- the first time since late 1994 that wholesale prices have fallen two months in a row.

In response, bargain hunters stepped in to buy stocks on sale, but major market indices closed well-off their intra-day highs, with the Nasdaq actually closing fractionally lower. For the week, the S&P 500 lost 1.47%, while the Nasdaq shed 1.44%

Friday treated the Borefolio kindly, gaining 1.20%. Eight stocks rose, led by a $4 7/8 leap in shares of ORACLE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") end if %> following the company's upbeat quarterly earning report yesterday. For the week, the Borefolio gained 0.33%.

BORDERS GROUP <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BGP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BGP)") end if %> gained $3/8 to close at $42. The company announced today that they would open a new superstore in San Mateo, Calif. this fall. The new Borders would be one of seven in the San Francisco Bay area.

SOLECTRON <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SLR)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SLR)") end if %> rose $5/8 in advance of its quarterly earnings report on Monday. According to First Call, analysts' consensus estimate is for EPS of $0.65. That would constitute a 25% increase over the comparable quarter a year ago. At today's price of $48 3/4, SLR is trading at less than 18 times projected earnings of $2.75 per share for the company's fiscal year ending in August. That's a seven to nine percentage-point discount to Solectron's projected near-term growth rate in earnings.

Well, it's time to mush out to the airport and see what's flying ... and what's not.

See you here on Monday.

(c) Copyright 1997, 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.

Today's Numbers

Stock  Change    Bid
--------------------
ATLS  +  1/8   23.38
BGP   +  3/8   42.00
CSL   +  3/8   31.88
CSCO  -1 3/8   50.50
GNT   +  1/8   37.13
ORCL  +4 7/8   41.00
OXHP  -  1/4   63.63
PMSI  +  1/8   11.13
SLR   +  5/8   48.75
TDW  +  1 1/8  44.13

                   Day   Month    Year  History
        BORING   +1.20%   0.17%   0.14%  15.24%
        S&P:     +0.46%   0.30%   7.08%  27.60%
        NASDAQ:  -0.03%  -1.22%   0.15%  24.21%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change
  2/28/96  200 Borders Gr    22.51     42.00    86.56%
  5/24/96  100 Oxford Hea    48.02     63.63    32.48%
   2/2/96  200 Green Tree    30.39     37.13    22.17%
  8/13/96  200 Carlisle C    26.32     31.88    21.08%
   3/8/96  400 Prime Medi    10.07     11.13    10.49%
   3/5/97  150 Atlas Air     23.06     23.38     1.37%
  6/26/96  100 Cisco Syst    53.90     50.50    -6.31%
 10/15/96  100 Solectron     54.52     48.75   -10.59%
 11/21/96  100 Oracle Cor    48.65     41.00   -15.72%
 12/23/96  100 Tidewater     46.52     44.13    -5.16%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change
  2/28/96  200 Borders Gr  4502.49   8400.00  $3897.51
  5/24/96  100 Oxford Hea  4802.49   6362.50  $1560.01
   2/2/96  200 Green Tree  6077.49   7425.00  $1347.51
  8/13/96  200 Carlisle C  5264.99   6375.00  $1110.01
   3/8/96  400 Prime Medi  4027.49   4450.00   $422.51
   3/5/97  150 Atlas Air   3458.74   3506.25    $47.51
  6/26/96  100 Cisco Syst  5389.99   5050.00  -$339.99
 11/21/96  100 Oracle Cor  4864.99   4100.00  -$764.99
 10/15/96  100 Solectron   5452.49   4875.00  -$577.49
 12/23/96  100 Tidewater   4652.49   4412.50  -$239.99

                             CASH   $2662.96
                            TOTAL  $57619.21