Scorps

My wife and I live in Toronto. Our combined savings/net income ratio is roughly 50-55%.

Costs will most likely come down as crude prices drop.

+1

The problem with cyclicals in general is when to buy, and later, when to sell. Do you buy XOM at $88 or wait for a real rout for it to get to 30,40, or 50, or less. i.e. when is the bottom of the cycle? Then there is the obsolescence issue. In the last 100 years we have seen railways undergo permanent secular decline, and more recently pulp and paper. While I dont think oil is in a serious permanent decline I am inclined to put in the word: Yet. At a price the lowest cost, best capitalized producers will survive, there may be alot of pain along the way. Uccmal, I understand what you are saying. To stay on the safer side, I will wait for a much larger margin of safety.

Are O&G business's that bad to invest in if your holding period is 2-3 years? Maybe for longer term holdings, as these are more cyclical plays with lower ROC's than other industries. I can understand the thesis that they are dependant on the price of crude and therefore more speculative but if oil really takes a beating, won't some of the better business's be good cyclical buys?

CVX seems to have a higher ave. cost of production than XOM. $11's VS 17's. I'm not an expert in O&G but if oil stays depressed for a while, XOM is probably the better business to own. However, it isn't cheap at these levels.

west, From what I recall, he posted Magic Formula Results starting from 1988.

A daily/weekly email alert would be nice.

Portfolio123 supposedly uses compustat data for their screens.

West, Don't know if this helps but found this site on statistics on mergers and acquisitions: http://www.imaa-institute.org/statistics-mergers-acquisitions.html#TopMergersAcquisitions_NorthAmerica

Writser, for all your accounts and passwords I would recommend an app/website I've been using the past years to securely store all my passwords and important information. It's called "SecureSafe". What's great about it is the option to add a beneficiary so that if something happens to you, all your information will be passed on to the beneficiary. You can leave them instructions as well.

A search by author would be great as well.

I came across this article on a non traditional teaching method that can be very powerful for kids: http://www.wired.com/business/2013/10/free-thinkers/

Kraven, you're points cracked me up! Hilarious! Gio, don't be overly nice to her by trying too hard to please her, unless that's who you are. Just be true to thyself and have a good time!

Are you able to ask for the first and last month rent upfront before they move in? This can be another screening test.