Investing For Growth
Investing For Growth
by Robert Sheard (MF DowMan) LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 13): News Flash!!!! IFG Catches the S&P 500!!! Overall, it was another strong day for IFG, the third big move in a row for the high-octane approach which has only been running on half its cylinders so far this year. These brief patches of lackluster performance have occurred before in the 16-year IFG history, but since we've only been following it in real-time for a brief period here in the Fool, it's hard to keep that crucial point in focus.
When we first began watching IFG online, it was during last year's incredible surge in technology stocks, and the technology-laden IFG portfolio was climbing a percentage point or two nearly every day it seemed. It's easy to get spoiled and lose touch with normality under those conditions, and the fourth quarter collapse in Micron Technology <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:MU)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:MU)") end if %>, and the other tech stocks in IFG at the time, brought us (and our returns) back to Earth rapidly.
Since then, the portfolio has rotated most of the positions into new holdings and looks to be showing new life again. That's part of the goal of the approach, of course - to ride terrific growth companies on the way up and rotate into better positions when the opportunity arises. This sounds like classic momentum investing, but keep in mind IFG's fundamental underpinnings of a decade-long growth track record. These aren't fly-by-night companies, resting on a single quarter's terrific numbers. These are proven performers who are likely to keep performing. A form of Fundamental Momentum investing, if you will.
On to the stocks ...
I haven't seen any news come across the news wires to explain Tellabs' <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ:TLAB)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ:TLAB)") end if %> move today, but the telecommunications equipment maker soared over 8% today. A competitor, Qualcomm <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ:QCOM)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ:QCOM)") end if %> was upgraded today, so it's possible that this is simply the whole group getting a boost by association. If something pops up on the news tonight, I'll mention it again here tomorrow.
In other IFG news, oracle <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ:ORCL)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ:ORCL)") end if %> and Hewlett-Packard today announced production availability of Oracle Parallel Server for the Oracle Universal Server running on Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX version 10. Together, the products address the high and growing demand by customers for building `twenty-four by seven' mission-critical applications in highly scalable, high availability environments.
Oracle also announced, together with IBM <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:IBM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:IBM)") end if %> and Sun Microsystems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ:SUNW)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ:SUNW)") end if %> that the three are negotiating to set common standards for development of low-cost Internet-access computers (the so-called $500 Internet-in-a-box machines). The trio is expected to make an announcement about the standards next Monday, according to USA Today.
Computer Associates <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:CA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:CA)") end if %> got a boost today from Cowen, which reiterated its Strong Buy rating on the stock. Computer Associates is slated to make what is called a "major" announcement Wednesday regarding its CA-UNICENTER product. The conference call is at noon (eastern) Wednesday. To get instructions for listening in on the conference call, dial 800-815-0261 by 11:55 am and ask for the CA conference.
Relative Strength Model holding Sterling Software <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:SSW)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:SSW)") end if %> posted better-than-expected earnings today, and climbed more than 4%. Wall Street expected earnings of $0.75 and Sterling posted $0.77 before the gain on its IPO of Sterling Commerce. With the IPO gain, earnings were $4.42 a share. Sterling's performance today helped boost the Relative Strength models to sparkling 3% gains on the day.
One final note - the delayed standings and weekly updates are now available in the IFG Statistics Center. This week's current IFG stocks didn't change from last week, although the rankings within the top ten were shuffled a bit. For complete details, check the Current IFG Order and 1996 IFG Returns files.
Transmitted: 5/13/96 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
