MaoXian.com -- Archive > November 15, 2004

HitMaps Experiment Complete

The HitMaps are now hugely popular and the list of users has grown unwieldy, so I decided to stop the experiment. As you can see, my dozen readers are a very mobile bunch, hopping around the globe, logging in from Iceland, New Zealand, and the wilds of the Northwest Territories.

Good night, guys.

Posted at 21:30, GMT

Trader Mike Gets a Glowing Review

Trader Mike's blog was featured in Barron's this week. They called it an "intelligent, informative, well-written blog," which is certainly true. Mike's a good guy and you should visit his site daily.

Posted at 15:15, GMT

Stocks to Watch -- Monday, November 15

Posted at 14:15, GMT

Chart of the Day -- Pixar, Weekly Chart

PIXR made a new all-time high last week. I haven't seen any of their feature films, but other people are apparently going in droves.

PIXR, Weekly Chart

Posted at 8:35, GMT

Best and Worst Performing Large-Cap Stocks (last 52 weeks)

Every Monday I feature a stock scan from my universe of Large-Cap stocks. Last Monday I listed the best and worst performers over the last 4 weeks; today I'm posting the list of the best and worst performers over the last 52 weeks.

Best:

TXU Corp (TXU)
Up ~203% {power production; electricity, natural gas}
AutoDesk Inc (ADSK)
Up ~198% {design software}
Allegheny Technologies Inc (ATI)
Up ~172% {producer of specialty materials, metals}
Apple Computer Inc (AAPL)
Up ~159% {personal computers and peripherals}
eBay Inc (EBAY)
Up ~102% {online auctioneer}

Worst:

Ciena Corp (CIEN)
Down ~62% {networking products}
LSI Logic Corp (LSI)
Down ~50% {integrated circuits}
Winn-Dixie Stores Inc (WIN)
Down ~48% {major food and drug retailer}
PMC-Sierra Inc (PMCS)
Down ~47% {semiconductors and MIPS-based processors}
Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC)
Down ~47% {integrated circuits}

Posted at 8:25, GMT

Taking Chutzpah to a New Level

The Next Warren Buffett? by Bob Berner

The bit I liked best in this article was when "Fast Eddie" Lampert, after being kidnapped, bound, and placed in a bathtub, bargained his ransom down to $40,000 from $1 million.

Posted at 8:15, GMT

Daily Dose of Doom

John Pomfret speaks on China, and he doesn't disappoint:

"Chinese students have told me they simply have no beliefs. They have less respect for the family than earlier generations. Will there be a renaissance during which the youth of China rediscover their traditional values? I don't see it. So many people in China live to rip other people off -- this takes place on such a huge level, it's scary. One has to worry that China is a society devoid of values."

Posted at 7:55, GMT

Dow Jones Pays Top Dollar for cbsmarketwatch.com

Dow Jones Is Said to Agree to a Deal to Buy MarketWatch, by Andy Sorkin:

"The acquisition of MarketWatch, a free news site at cbsmarketwatch.com, marks a major strategic shift for Dow Jones, which until now had focused its online efforts almost exclusively on paid subscription services like The Wall Street Journal Online, one of the few successful subscription-based news Web sites ... It is unclear whether Dow Jones will publish any stories from The Wall Street Journal on the site, but it is expected to try to use the site to also upgrade some readers to WSJ.com."

I'm interested to see how this plays out. I read Herb Greenberg via RSS, but I never visit cbsmarketwatch.com. WSJ.com has around 700,000 subscribers but still loses money, so I'm not sure how "successful" it is.

Posted at 7:45, GMT

Customers Win, Dealers Lose

Real Time Muni Prices to Put Pressure on Dealers, by Joe Mysak

Bond dealers will have to be more "realistic," i.e. they won't be able to rip off investors as easily as before.

Posted at 7:35, GMT

Must Reading for Innumerate Journalists

The Unexplained Exit Poll Discrepancy (PDF), by Steven Freeman:

"My purpose in this paper, however, has not been to allege election theft, let alone explain it. Rather, I have tried to demonstrate that exit poll data is fundamentally sound, that the deviations between exit poll predictions and vote tallies is the three critical battleground states could not have occurred strictly by chance or random error, and that no solid explanations have yet been provided to explain the discrepancy. In short, I have tried to justify the discrepancy as a legitimate issue that warrants public attention."

Posted at 7:25, GMT

Sentiment Update for the Week Ending November 12, 2004

Last week the equity market moved higher again and the sentiment remained very positive. The market has rallied about 11% since the buy in August and over 4% since the "worst" buy back in February.

(Last week's Sentiment Update)

Vanguard Total Stock Market VIPERs, Weekly Chart

Posted at 7:15, GMT

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