114th Edition of the Festival of Stocks

Welcome to the November 10, 2008 edition of Festival of Stocks. The Festival of Stocks is a blog carnival dedicated to highlighting bloggers best posts on stock market related topics. Fat Pitch Financials is the actual birth place of this online weekly event, so it is always a special occassion when I get the chance to host this roving event.

If you aren’t already familiar with my blog, Fat Pitch Financials, it is a value investing blog with a focus on wide moat companies selling at substantial discounts and Graham style workouts. I encourage you to subscribe for free to my blog feed to keep up with my latest postings.

You should also check my Fat Pitch Financials Contributor’s Corner while you are here. It is my premium members only community dedicated to unique arbitrage and special situation opportunities.

Now that you are familiar with Fat Pitch Financials, let’s take a look at this week’s Festival of Stock participants. There are a dozen entries this week divided up into stock analysis, coverage of the current financial crisis, portfolio management, technical analysis, and other topics. Here are this week’s entries:

Stock Analysis

Walmart vs Target posted at Stock Pursuit. An analysis of Walmart and Target’s stock and which stock will perform better in the recession.
Stocks: WMT, TGT

Leadership missing in Action at Financial Companies- Part I posted at InvESGuard. This post does a great job dissecting the Asset Quality Committee at the Bank of America. The author also notes the absense of this Board committee at other major financial companies in the headlines.
Stocks: BOA, AIG, C, GS

Nucor Corporation (NUE) Dividend Stock Analysis posted at Dividend Growth Investor. An analysis of this North American steel producer.
Stocks: NUE

Taking Stock in MFC: posted at Triaging My Way To Financial Success. A detailed stock analysis of Manulife Financial including qualitative fundamentals and quantitative valuations.
Stocks: MFC

Stock Analysis: Dover Corp (DOV) posted at Dividends 4 Life. Dover Corp. manufactures a broad range of specialized industrial products and sophisticated manufacturing equipment. Linked here is a a detailed analysis and commentary.
Stocks: DOV

KBR: A Hedge Fund Liquidation Special posted at College Analysts. An analysis of this Halliburton (HAL) spinoff.
Stocks: KBR, HAL

Yahoo (YHOO) debacle posted at Intelligent Speculator. Yahoo(YHOO) has been in the news for what seems like months, since Microsoft launched an attack to buy it in May this year for $33, which the Yahoo management had rejected claiming it was not getting sufficient value for the company.
Stocks: YHOO, MSFT, EBAY

Financial Crisis

Debt and the Credit Crisis posted at Rich Leverage. Commentary on why this recession will be much worse than others because of consumer debt.

How Is What We Are Going Through Now Different From The Great Depression in the 1930’s? posted at My Investing Blog. This post looks at how publicity and the ease of information flow make the current crisis different from the Great Depression.

Portfolio Management

Special Situations Real Money Portfolio – October 2008 post here at Fat Pitch Financials. Wonder who has been making money in this market. My portfolio focused on Graham style “workouts” was up 16% for the year at the end of October. Find out how.

College 529 Savings Account – Signifcantly Down posted at My Wealth Builder. The bear market of 2008 has destroyed our college savings account. I’m sorry to see college savings accounts in the red, and it is one of the reasons I’m happy my Special Situations Real Money Portfolio is my son’s Coverdell ESA (up +17% ytd).

How to Choose Online Broker? posted at Internet Stock Trading for Beginners. A look at the criteria you should consider when choosing a broker to matching your investing style and preferences.

How an $800 Tax Bill Taught Me Not to Be a Greedy Idiot posted at The Money Hawk. This investor has been taking advantage of the market lows, but forgot to maintain an emergency fund. Then an unforseen tax bill hit him.

A One Stock Tale; Financial Tales posted at Financial Tales. Lessons from the dramatic rise and fall of the stock in one employee’s portfolio.
Stocks: EMC

401(k)’s and IRA’s Are For Suckers posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Blueprint takes the role of Devil’s Advocate in this funny post.

Try Buying When You Want to Sell and Vice Versa posted at Investing School. It looks like this post is suggesting a “George Costanza” approach to investing.

Review: The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio by Alex Green posted at The Personal Financier. The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio offers a framework for saving, sound investment wisdom and no less important a step by step approach to their practical application up to a detailed asset allocation.

Technical Analysis

The Obama Bottom posted at Zignals blog. Some technical analysis indicators suggest we’ve seen the bottom, but this will only be confirmed when we reach the 200-day moving average again.

Market Timing Simplified posted at The Iconoclast Investor. A look at the Simplified Cabot Market Timer and how to use it to time when to get back into the market.

Automated Day Trader: Double Moving Average Crossover, Test 1 posted at Fatty Fat Fat. A backtest of the double moving average crossover technical analysis indicator.

Thanksgiving day trade posted at Ripe Trade. “Historically buying on the close the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and selling on the close the Friday after thanksgiving would have yielded far superior returns when compared to a typical two day return.”

Dow Jones in October 2008 by the Numbers posted at The Sun’s Financial Diary. A look at the recent massive swings in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Mutual Funds

Can Dodge & Cox Bounce Back? posted at The Sun’s Financial Diary. A look at what happened to the performance of the Dodge & Cox fund. It looks like AIG’s massive problems caught them off guard.
Stocks: AIG

The Hidden Advantage Of Mutual Fund Investing posted at Mutual Fund Investing Tips. Mutual fund investing is a good way to prevent making investing mistakes. It might prevent you from making mistakes, but it doesn’t prevent fund managers from still making those mistakes.

Other Topics

MagicDiligence Interview with George of Value Investing News, Part I posted at MagicDiligence. Part I of an interview MagicDiligence did last week with me.

10 unbreakable rules for choosing a financial newsletter posted at Cheap Lee Dot Com. This post provides some tips for selecting a financial newsletter. However, it appears Fat Pitch Financials Contributor’s Corner breaks at least 2 of the supposedly unbreakable rules.

Security Analysis: Chapter 4: Distinctions Between Investment and Speculation posted at The Wealth Accumulator. The is the continuation of the Security Analysis Blook Club at The Wealth Accumulator.

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That concludes this edition of the Festival of Stocks. Next week’s Festival of Stocks will be at The Enlightened American. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Festival of Stocks using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our Festival of Stocks index page for those of you interested in reviewing the archives. If you are interested in volunteering to host a future edition of the Festival of Stocks, just contact me with the name of your site, blog URL, email address, and the date your prefer to host.