Daytripper

Your point is well-taken. Past performance may not be indicative of future performance.

TSLA was also mentioned, with a caveat regarding valuation, citing Apple during the pre-iPod era. I don't disagree with TSLA. I think trying to value Apple post-Jobs is going to be just as difficult as it was during the pre-iPod period. The assets are too intangible to be realistically and properly valued. My vote is for Apple. There are 3 known catalysts (New CEO/upcoming stock split/iPhone 6) that could seriously propel the stock price. I can't understand why Apple decided to split the shares. The only rationale that I can imagine for the split is because Apple is close to announcing another game-changing technology product or a business methodology/model that completely changes the way an existing business model has operated (past example - media).

I think they would have to hire people to run and administer the fund.

The article is only available to subscribers.

The TCF Financial warrants are trading about for what they were sold for by Treasury, and the stock is getting close to the exercise price. Might be nice to hold some if the stock can trade up in 3.5 years. Any opinions on TCF? Tom

I'm looking for some high yield stocks to own for at least 2-3 years. I been looking at Frontier and noticed that Fairfax owned 18.6M shares as of 12/31/2009. That gives me a pretty good confidence level. Any thoughts on this company? Thanks! Tom

Look's like a good way to side-step some lawsuits. The re-instated dealers were probably marginal operators in the first place, which is why they were slated for closing.

Mortgage REIT with a huge dividend (21%+). Company and/or risk seems to be misunderstood. Any opinions on AGNC?

I guess I'll have to change my strategy a bit and move to higher priced shares, rather than take on a volume trade for a couple of pennies. So far I've found IB to have really fast executions compared to Ameritrade (SMART). I was fed-up with watching (and waiting) for Ameritrade to get my orders sold on whatever exchange they were using, while watching thousands and thousands of shares trade at my price. Tom

I just opened an account with IB. I left for lower margin rates, and ideally for lower commissions. I've only had this account active today, and I'm puzzled by the commissions. For today..... BOT & SLD 1500 F - Comm 15.00 (RT) BOT & SLD 100 JPM - Comm 2.00 BOT & SLD 5000 SNV - Comm 50.00 BOT & SLD 2500 EK - Comm 25.00 BOT & SLD 1500 AGNC - Comm 15.00 I was with Ameritrade, and upon request quite a few months ago lowered my commissions to $7 per trade. I had been swinging 10K shares on SNV for $7, the downside was that the maint margin was $20K on the transaction. With IB, the maint margin is greatly reduced but the transaction costs are high. I plan to park almost all of the funds in a high dividend-yielding stock, and then purchase about 65% more shares on margin. This will comprise my core position plus allow me to trade a bit, but I'm going to have to switch gears and focus on higher priced shares (note JPM comm is $2). The software takes some time to get used to, this weekend will be spent watching the educational webinars and studying the user quide. I had a few questions for IB staff in getting the account activated, replies via email or chat were quick and accurate. The BlackBerry application works well too. I'll post more comments as experiences allow. Have a great weekend gang! Tom

Right now, you might get a better deal on a Toyota vehicle vs Toyota stock.

I only asked if anybody was still following Pinnacle after looking at the institutional ownership listing on Yahoo.

Is anybody still following Pinnacle Air?

I've noted the recent prices, but have been busy with SNV. Another lower-priced P&C is AFSI, and they pay a dividend. I just found it, and haven't spent much time looking it over. Tom

thanks for the interesting topic.

I just read the book 2 months ago, priceless.

Yep, I forgot about HALL'ss repurchase plan. It still looks like dead-money to me.

Some cynical types might argue that (most) MBAs don't add value.

I was kicking the tires on HALL, but can't find any good reason to justify buying it at this time. Neither the current share price or the PB ratio are attractive enough. As previously pointed out by somebody (sorry) management owns a big percentage of shares, so a take-off offer would have to be on their terms. Somebody also mentioned AHL. They at have a catalyst that could justify a purchase (share buyback program).

After taking a glance at AHL, I can only say "HALL Who?"

I don't know enough about the P&C business AND the reasons that have contributed to HALL's price decline. Trying to evaluate a business on fundamentals is new to me, I picked HALL because it looked cheap and was underfollowed. The question for me is: What kind of catalyst would cause the share price to improve, short of a buy-out offer. Another poster mentioned that there are bigger and better companies available. I have no doubt about that, and it is unfortunate that my time and funds are limited! I've enjoyed kicking the tires on HALL, but without some some sign of life and the lack of a dividend, I'm just watching it. A move above the 50 day MA would be encouraging (can I say moving average on here??!) Tom

I'm on the Facebook version of kaChing, just started last month so I don't have any numbers yet. Tom

Freezing here in Central Florida Publix stores are the cleanest, have the friendliest help, and generally have the highest prices. Albertsons has very good prices but the stores are somewhat dirty. Ditto for Winn Dixie, although sometimes they have the best prices on beer.

HALL struck me also as an investment company that hiding inside an insurance company. What is the VIC report that you mentioned? So, given the numbers,s is HALL the kind of stock that you buy based on the numbers, or would you wait for a favorable catalyst to emerge (although possibly missing the move)? Thanks......Tom

< HALL actually looks really good. Flat 08, discount to book of 25% or more, and 92% combined ratio. Plus a buyback program. This is a 2 minute review of there last release but, why so cheap. There has to be something going on. Time to dig a bit deeper. > There is a high level of internal ownership, which can be viewed as either a positive or negative. I think the numbers are good and management seems to be doing a good job, but I'm neither an accountant or an insurance executive. I don't sell why management would want to sell the business.