Ron -

Yes - I glanced over their Q1 report, and I think I'll leave the
details to Shhhhh (!) GTW says they re-doing on the right track,
mentioned their notebook sales up 70% (I think), but it gets so doggone
complicated sorting through things like store lease buyouts and
earnings fluctuations between quarters .... I agree with you - it's
much more fun to look through a company without, er ... "problems".
(That's why I prefer companies like LLTC. Or FAST. Or MSM.)

Shhhhh wrote:
- quote -

3 general comments:

1. do keep track of whether this is doing any better than just putting
$200 a month into a broad-market stock index fund? If it isn't, why bother?

2. are you tracking cost basis along the way and keeping printed
records? If you buy & hold these and then sell 15 years from now, you
will need to be able to document your cost basis and it could be a real
bear. It's all of those $10 purchases plus the dividend reinvestments,
for all 20 stocks (!). Each one of those purchases technically needs to
be documented, as in on paper or a reliable electronic format that will
be around 15 years from now (I use paper). Those $10 additions and
div-reinvestments over many years will add up to a lot of recordkeeping
(320 transactions per year if they all pay quarterly divs). Never mind
when you start to hit stock splits, spinoffs and all that kind of stuff.
If you can't document it and you're audited the IRS can say your basis
is $0...and by that point you could be talking about some pretty big
capital gains.

3. Given #2...see #1?

-Tad

dapperdobbs wrote:

- quote -

GTW is losing money and its tangible book value is negative.

If GTW were to introduce some new some product that catches on with
customers, then it may be worth while as a speculative holding.

--
Ron

Ron -

Just curious ... on what basis is GTW too risky? If GTW is a
speculative stock in the portfolio, the "risk" is already factored in,
but I am curious as to what factors you were looking at.

Shhhhh wrote:
- quote -

I would drop GTW as being too risky.

--
Ron

an alternative approach (I use sharebuilder too).

Invest $200 in one stock each month. Costs you $4. Your plan costs
you $12. So the extra $8 is going to work for you sooner.

The advantage to your technique is you are "instantly" diversified.
The advantage to my technique is I keep more of "my money" working for
me.

I invest $500/month into my sharebuilder plan, I own some of stocks you
own (F, PG, MSFT, QQQQ) and I also try to make sure I own some mid cap
type shares as well. I invest into ONE stock each month- $4 for
transaction cost and $496 into the stock itself. I change what stock I
purchase monthly.

Shhhhh -

Nice portfolio! What strikes me right away is that you seem to place
your focus on the earnings and businesses of the companies before you
buy their stock. Perhaps this is why the rationality of your portfolio
is more clearly evident - to me - than the portfolios of some funds I
have looked at. You also have a manageable number of stocks - when you
swing at a ball, the objective is to actually hit it, and that, I'm
told, requires some concentration. Anybody can just swing and hope. My
perception is that you favor large-cap stocks, but you want some
appreciation in return for adding your capital to their balance sheet.
I didn't look in-depth on any you listed, but I favor mid-cap
companies, and would hold LLTC and CHRW instead of LU NT and F. (It's
just a strictly personal quirk of mine to not hold autos, and companies
that lose money.) I like CME, and I admire your selection of RL (metals
processing) because it shows you are looking across a broad spectrum
and are not just buying household names like PG, IBM. When you buy, you
have a reason; your reasoning is understandable, like an intelligible
sentence, and invites a civilized reply.

Sharebuilder also allows you to invest in ETFs which I started adding to my
investments. I added EEM and EFA to get some international and emerging
markets exposure into my portfolio


"Shhhhh" <123[at]454.com> wrote in message
news:lZSdnceSxsETq2zfRVn-tw[at]comcast.com...
- quote -


======================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
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Hello all,

I'm a small time investor without alot of discretionary income to devote to
investing. but I do have the time to watch business news and read articles
about stocks extensively... About 2 years ago I began investing seriously
for myself (I.E. no more mutual funds)

I use Sharebuilder and deposit $200 a month. It's obviously not a huge
account but its steady growth and dividends are reinvested. I have a
portfolio of 20 stocks and I invest $10 in each stock. I know it's not huge,
please don't balk. but I'm just curious what you think of my portfolio, it
is fairly well diversified and has some good dividend players as well as
some tech, and some growth, and some speculation. Please offer your opinions
of the stocks chosen and any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Here
is my portfolio...
BK
CAT
CME
DIS
F
FD
GTW
INTC
JNJ
KO
LU
MSFT
NT
PG
RL
Trading On Line
XOM
IYH
IYY
QQQQ

Thanks,
Shhhhh