Tyco and Kraft are splitting up in the next two months so you might want to brush up there.

Both pieces of KFT will be too big for me to spend any time looking at right now but I might see if any of the TYC pieces look interesting.

Blah Kraft. I remember looking at it last year and having a very strong negative reaction. A spinoff might be nice though.

I havn't seen any discussion on AIG yet. I think lots of people are over looking them when it seems to be holding lots of value.

Brucke Berkowitz's 8 billion dollar fund is like 35-40% invested in AIG. He makes a great case study for it. http://www.fairholmefunds.com/sites/...dyII180612.pdf

Im interested in buying a decent amount. Would like to hear what other people think

It's interesting, but complicated. I'd rather own MKL, GLRE, BRK, RLI etc.

I own AIG. It's definitely not under the radar. A lot of people have been pitching it -- and berkowitz has the biggest position. The bull is case is super obvious for AIG -- cheap and easy way of allocating whatever cash they generate so long as the company is cheap. The reason it's not a big > 3% position is that I'm still not too sure what the real downside is.

ALGT seems to be a good growth stock, the airline industry has taken a little hit lately as most carriers are showing lower than expected y/y Passenger Revenue per Available Seat Mile, and fuel prices are still high...it would be exposed to a big economic slowdown but otherwise I think it would be fine for longer timeframe buy.

DEXO SPMD had a good move today. They are merging. Think they will continue to do well, I hope. Might drop a little tomorrow.

I'm adding a full position of BIDU today. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it at its current level.

Currently Long: MAKO, BIDU, GD, BMY, KOC, WM, ATT, VZ, CKEC(added after that dude shot the people in colorado and there was a sell off).
Short: GRPN(since $18)

I also have a couple spreads on MAKO and MRVL

I thinking about adding more to NICK. Even though it's above my entry price, I still think it's the best opportunity that I am aware of.

I use to own NICK; it's a great company and one of those hold forever stocks. Only reason I haven't gotten them is because I was trying to get better opportunities.

One that I have been looking at for a long while is AXTI, but I haven't bought any yet. I think there will be a better entry point after earnings. What do y'all think?

Great thread.. Any chance of having a "model" portfolio or something that we can also follow along with?

Be great to see the progression of some of the companies mentioned earlier and how they have fared.

I bought 300 shares of GPRE - Great Plains Renewable Energy for very log-term addition. They make ethanol. Ethanol has been depressed due to drought scare. However, they can still blend into gasoline as a choice because it is cheaper. Also, ethanol has higher octane. The only reason you don't get higher mileage is engines are not optimised for it. Last year we were exporting ethanol. Every decade they get more ethanol per acre.

“The engine runs best on a blend with gasoline that is 30% to 50% ethanol, but, Ricardo says, can run on anything from all gas to all ethanol. Ricardo is bringing a GMC Sierra 3500HD pickup to the Washington, D.C., auto show this week that will be outfitted with its V-6 ethanol engine. On gas, it says, the GMC truck gets about 12.7 miles per gallon. On all ethanol, it would get about 12.1 mpg, the company says. But with an optimum blend, it says the engine could get 15 mpg.”

On gpre does it bother you that it is up 70% from its July lows?

I am not worried about that, it has a very low sales/mktcap ratio. Upset I missed the low. However, I am more worried and may sell because one of its competitors is Valero. If the margins get real thin, VLO may use ethanol as a loss leader to bankrupt GPRE. Something to think about. I just really want add to green stocks. I want to add a photovoltaic stock as soon as I find one that will survive the shakeout as they all are losing money due to oversupply.

p/s = 0.05
p/book = 0.39

If you wanted green stocks, I think REGI would've been a better choice. I have a long in REGI; they are massively profitable doing biodiesel even without the tax subsidies, which you can't say for anyone else in the industry, including BIOF and GPRE. Even the low-end analyst estimate for 2013 EPS is $1 ish, which is a P/E of 8 and 30% discount to tangible book from the current price.

They also have a distribution system and supply chain infrastructure that far outclasses all the rest of their competition, and is the main reason why they're profitable in what is otherwise a money-losing industry without tax subsidies. Although it's still somewhat risky since the entire biodiesel industry could up and vanish almost overnight, the upside potential seems to be huge with the new government requirements for biodiesel.

i've been screaming MAKO since $11.. pushing $19 headed for $28 and beyond!

MAKO Surgical channel checks positive, says JPMorgan
JPMorgan's said Mako has posted 13 new hospitals on its website since August, and checks indicate eight were likely sold in July and August., which bodes well for the quarter. Shares are Neutral rated.

No offense, but MAKO looks like a blatant short to me. I wonder what NajdorfDefense thinks about this.

They look great, earnings look great, facilities look great but there is a problem. Shares outstanding doubled year over year thus they actually lost revenue per share year over year. However, these effects may be due to the IPO.

They only IPOed last January, so the change in outstanding shares has to be due to the IPO.

BIDU looks like a good long to me, I'm guessing you bought it between 100 and 105? What do you do when it gets to 125-130?

FMCC - Freddie Mac
FNMA - Fannie Mae

These are longshots, but I think worth the risk. Both had good positive quarters last quarter. Both seem to be improving balance sheets. Both seem to be improving profitability. They could go broke, they could be 60 baggers. might be lowest p/s in total stock market. QE3 seems might help them. disclosure; bought both today

So short it then Only time will tell.. There are lots of old people who need hip and knee replacements. They have the right sales guys in place now, they just made a lot of sales that were verified by JP Morgan.. all roads lead to profit in the near future...

Not to mention the massive amounts of insider buying recently... I'm along for the ride.. in at the bottom so I'm not to worried about it.

Have you read much about how the Treasury Department changed the terms of their agreement in August of this year? Instead of paying a 10% dividend to the Treasury Department each quarter both companies now have to pay all profits to the department. They also are required to decrease their investment portfolios by 15% each year. I assumed this was a temporary thing until the bailout money is paid back, but what I've read it's to shrink both companies quicker to eventually shut them down.

Thanks I looked into quite a long time. I think all profits will go 10% as dividends and the remaining to pay back preferred. We will see next quarter. I don't think government is going to charge fnma 24% interest rates. But, you never know as it looks the banking buddies want fnma gone. I think banks got loans for 5% from the treasury for tarp, yet the bank that is suppose to be government backed pays 10%? They should rename Goldman sacs, Government Goldman Sacs., United States Chase Manhattan of Washington, and Wells government backed Fargo, Bank we would not be here without taking grandmas savings of America.

You are probably correct it is a bad stock. However, I do not understand the credit risk either. If interest rates double, are they in trouble? Seems the 15% is not bad as it will make them smaller. I am sure they are going to send all the junk to the fed. The banks will take the good stuff.

Still don't know what I bought but the fees won't make the sell worthwhile.