Bull Sense - Stock Markets Explained - Irish Investors Empowered

Mar '10's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2010-03-01T22:34:56Z

My favourite 5 year to buy now and hold for 5 years are as follows:

1. Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI)

2. Ebix (Nasdaq: EBIX)

3. Net 1 Ueps Technologies (Nasdaq: UEPS)

4. Steak 'n Shake (NYSE: SNS)

5. Odyssey Healthcare (Nasdaq: ODSY)

Emmet owns shares in Activision, Ebix, Net 1 UEPS, and Steak 'n Shake

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

Emmet's Portfolio

2010-02-08T21:01:10Z

My stock portfolio comprises of the following companies: AKO-A, ATVI, BABY, BOOM, BRK-B, BWLD, CMFO, CMG-B, COST, CTRP, DIS, DLB, EBIX, EXEL, ISRG, MPEL, NFLX, QSII, SNS, TTWO, UA, UEPS, VOD.L, VTIV.

I only own stocks that I believe will offer superior growth over the long term. My folio is diversified across industry and size, however is weighted towards small caps. Here are the 5 year graphs:

Feb '10's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2010-02-01T14:12:19Z

It's still difficult to find value, here's my favourite 5 year to buy and hold for 5 years:

1. China Education Alliance (NYSE: CEU)

2. Ebix (Nasdaq: EBIX)

3. Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO)

4. Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI)

5. Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI)

Emmet owns shares in Ebix and Activision.

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

Jan '10's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2010-01-01T21:15:46Z

It's still difficult to find value, here's my favourite 5 year to buy and hold for 5 years:

1. Telkom Indonesia (NYSE: TLK)

2. China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)

3. Inventiv Health (Nasdaq: VTIV)

4. Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI)

5. Under Armour (NYSE: UA)

Emmet owns shares in Inventiv, Activision and UA.

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

Dec '09's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2009-11-30T17:58:52Z

It's still difficult to find value, here's my favourite 5 year to buy and hold for 5 years:

1. Telkom Indonesia (NYSE: TLK)

2. China Sky One Medical (Nasdaq: CSKI)

3. Take-Two Interactive (NYSE: TTWO) *

4. Ross Stores (NYSE: ROST)

5. Nathan's Famous (NYSE: NATH)

Emmet owns shares in Take-Two.

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

38% Growth in 12 Months

2009-11-05T09:49:49Z

The following graph displays my stock portfolio's returns for the twelve month period from 6 November '08 to today. Considering the year that was in it, I'm delighted with 38% gains versus the general market's 7% rise. I'll admit up front this is not my average annual return over the past fifteen years -- had this been the case I'd have Warren Buffett as an understudy -- nonetheless, in the words of Gary Player, one of the greatest players in the history of golf, the more I practice, the luckier I get.

So how did I five-fold out-perform the S&P500 over the last year? If I had to boil everything down to a single word answer I'd say temperament. Years of practice has taught me to never panic -- no matter what the market hands me I simply assess what's on offer at the day's prices. In March of this year media reports were shouting that the end was nigh; the global financial debacle was in full swing, consumer spending was at all-time lows, General Motors and friends were going under, the list goes on and on. Against this backdrop there were countless businesses with plenty of cash, no debt, great products and motivated management -- selling at never-to-be-repeated prices. Consequently I threw cash and the kitchen sink into a basket of well chosen stocks, which have since rewarded me handsomely.

Every day media hands out more information than one could meaningfully digest; both macro economic and company-specific news streams at us 24/7. By sticking to what has been proven to work by the world's wealthiest investors, you'll quickly learn that media reports add almost no value to an individual investor faced with a simple decision: buy more or sell out. A cool temperament will detach you from the noise and ultimately lead you to better decisions in a world obsessed with the irrelevant.

Nov '09's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2009-11-01T02:15:33Z

It's difficult to find value this month, however with a 5 year perspective here are my 5 favourite stocks to buy now and hold:

1. Watson Wyatt (NYSE: WW)

2. Sohu.com (Nasdaq: SOHU)

3. Take-Two Interactive (NYSE: TTWO)

4. Embotelladora Andina (NYSE: AKO-a)

5. Amdocs (NYSE: DOX) *

Emmet owns shares in Take-Two and Andina.

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

Steve Jobs -- Stanford Speech '05

2009-10-20T21:03:50Z

This is a great speech from a man who changed our digital lives. Do what you love!...

Oct '09's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2009-10-01T12:50:48Z

My 5 favourite stocks to buy now and hold for at least 5 years are:

1. PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP)

2. Chipotle (NYSE: CMG-b)

3. Kingspan (KGSPF.PK)

4. Under Armour (NYSE: UA)

5. thestreet.com (Nasdaq: TSCM) *

I bought shares in thestreet last week -- they look very cheap at the moment however, like all micro-caps, are high risk.

Emmet owns shares in Chipotle, Under Armour and thestreet.com.

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

Sept '09's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2009-09-01T12:50:25Z

My 5 favourite stocks to buy now and hold for at least 5 years are:

1. Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN)

2. Costco (Nasdaq: COST)

3. inVentiv Health (Nasdaq: VTIV)

4. Jack Henry & Associates (Nasdaq: JKHY)

5. Jones Soda (Nasdaq: JSDA) *

* Capitalised at just $17.7 million, Jones is a tiny company and therefore disproportionately risky. Nonetheless, the company has no debt, $7m in cash, and distribution logistics bedded down in the US, UK, Ireland, and Australia. If management can reverse falling sales Stateside these prices might prove to be a steal -- that's a big "if", hence the high risk.

Emmet owns shares in inVentiv and Costso.

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

Joel Greenblatt's Little Book

2009-08-24T15:47:55Z

Once you've committed to investing, as opposed to trading, there are three ways to set about identifying companies to add to your self-managed stock portfolio:

1) Find them yourself. This method requires a high degree of familiarity with stock-screeners, as well as lines and trends within company annual and quarterly reports. It's a high risk approach for newbies and not recommended.

2) Take time proven advice. There are any number of individuals and companies selling stock advice; the trick is to find one that has a proven track record and is written in English you can understand. In my opinion the first newsletter a budding investor should sign up for is The Motley Fool's Stock Advisor. Apart from being an award winning publication it will methodically educate you on what to look for in a great investment, while handing you two stocks per month for your consideration.

3) Mechanical investing. This is the low risk approach to building a profitable portfolio, ideally used when an individual is unconcerned whether the next company they buy makes body armour or face cream. Simply explained, mechanical investing applies a formula to produce a list of companies that if bought-and-held for a fixed period will beat the general market. In choosing a mechanical investing technique one must be satisfied that it works and fully committed to sticking by the system for several years.

One such highly successful method was devised by Joel Greenblatt and explained in his acclaimed book The Little Book That Beats The Market. The beauty of the Little Book is a follows:

* It's simple
* It works
* Investment professionals cannot follow its strategy

Legendary investor Michael Price describes The Little Book as "One of the most important investment books of the last 50 years". I couldn't agree more, that's why a copy is included in all BullSense course packs.

Greenblatt's "Magic Formula" returns have been back-tested and graphed. As you'll observe, despite two of the all-time largest market crashes in the last ten years, it has returned almost 200% in the same time period. When compared to a 20% loss on the S&P500 you can see why it's called the magic formula.

Aug '09's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2009-08-01T12:49:47Z

My 5 favourite stocks to buy now and hold for at least 5 years are:

1. Diageo (NYSE: DEO)

2. Costco (Nasdaq: COST)

3. Elan (NYSE: ELN)

4. GameStop (NYSE: GME)

5. Neustar (NYSE: NSR)

Emmet owns shares in Costco.

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

Considering Elan

2009-07-22T11:38:36Z

Financial and pharma companies make risky investments; some of the world's most successful investors agree that even the CEOs of such companies don't have enough information to make a call on where their share price is headed. Throw beleaguered building suppliers into the mix and between drug businesses and banks and you have the majority of Irish interests listed on US stock markets. Not a lot a lot to get excited about right now.

Despite the dark abyss that is pharmaceuticals I'm starting to take interest in Dublin and Athlone based Elan Drug Technologies.

Elan is best known for developing the blockbuster drug Tysabri, which treats multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease. As I'm sure you've read, their precipitous share price collapse from a high of about $35 in July '08 to a low of around $5 the following March was down to numerous unfavourable outcomes for patients on the treatment.

Elan's future growth potential however lies in their Alzheimer treatment, bapineuzumab. The company, with partners, are industry leaders in R&D into the illness and probably have the best Alzheimer's drug pipeline. This fact didn't go unnoticed by health care giant Johnson & Johnson who earlier this month bought an 18.4% stake in Elan for $1B. J&J are also funding a new company for $500 million that will receive Elan's Alzheimer's drugs, including bapineuzumab: Elan will own 49.9% of that company. With J&J's vast resources this is a significant partnership, but more noteworthy a statement of the company's belief in what Elan have got going on. Considering this, Elan's improved year-on-year revenue and near all time price lows, I might take a small stake in Elan in the weeks ahead.

Finally, while there are signs that the J&J relationship will go from strength to strength, potential investors need to remember that with this company comes a more than an average share of risk.

July '09's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2009-07-01T09:27:34Z

My 5 favourite stocks to buy now and hold for at least 5 years are:

1. Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI)

2. Costco (Nasdaq: COST)

3. Hasbro (NYSE: HAS)

4. Procter Gamble (NYSE: PG)

5. Sysco (NYSE: SYY)

Emmet owns shares in Activision and Costco.

Here are the 5 year trailing graphs for this month's 5 for 5:

June '09's 5 Stocks for 5 Years

2009-06-01T01:00:00Z

My 5 favourite stocks to buy now and hold for at least 5 years are:

1. Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI)

2. Costco (Nasdaq: COST)

3. Take-Two Interactive (Nasdaq: TTWO)

4. Procter Gamble (NYSE: PG)

5. Under Armour (NYSE: UA)

Emmet owns shares in Activision, Costco and Take-Two. He bought shares in all three companies during the month of May '09.