Gulf Stock Markets Slide-WFG Already Exited

Based upon the Egypt turmoil that started weeks ago, I felt it prudent to sell our 1% position in Templeton Frontier Markets Fund owned in our no load mutual fund, shortly thereafter.

My concern was then, as it is now, that the turmoil may continue to spread and infect a host of other countries in the region.

It was time to as musician Steve Miller would say, "Take the Money and Run."

If you are an internet subscriber to the WSJ online you can click on the above blog title for access to an article from the WSJ on the topic.

Word of Caution From Doug Kass

Doug Kass is one of the few financial experts that gets quite a bit of media airtime that:

1. Knows what he is talking about.
2. Has been right much more than wrong with his market forecasts.

Click the blog title above for an excellent article just penned by Doug at www.theStreet.com.

Why NFC Could be Another Game-Changer for Apple

Many investors wonder how high and how long Apple can continue its ascent.

Click the blog title above for an excellent article from www.theStreet.com as to how Near Field Communications (NFC) could be another game-changer for Apple.

WFG owns Apple in our stock portfolios and our no load mutual fund.

Is This The Time To Be Going LONG - with a 70 Yard Pass to Randy Moss?

The following is from Contrarian Guru Extraordinaire, David Rosenberg.

"Sorry, but that time has passed. But we will probably get another kick at the can because we are sure that the “event risk”, which caused so much turbulence and buying opportunities in 2010 will come around again in 2011. But this is one overextended U.S. stock market, that is for sure.

We have a dividend yield on the S&P 500 of 1.8% with a 10-year bond yield at 3.7%. Somehow that is just slightly less appealing than the 3.6% dividend yield and 2.8% bond yield we had at the March 2009 market lows.

The dividend yield, by the way,
is where it was at the market peak in October 2007.
Food for thought.

The cyclically-adjusted P/E ratio on the S&P 500 is now 23.3x, where it was back in May 2008. At the lows, it was trading at 13.3x.

So if we are talking about the best entry point from a value perspective,
it was then, not now.

Amazingly, the Investors Intelligence survey now shows 53.4% bulls and 23.3% bears. At the March 2009 lows, these numbers were basically reversed. Equity portfolio manager cash ratios today are at 3.5%; at the March 2009 lows they were closer to 6%. As an aside, the last time the liquidity ratio was as low as it is today was in September 2007. Gulp!

… well, you know which way it’s going from here".

WFG Recent Stock Addition, EOG Resources: Oil Boom Play

We recently added EOG Resources (EOG) to our no load mutual fund and our privately managed Concentrated Growth Portfolio.

Click the above blog title for an informative article on who EOG is and what the growth opportunity is.

Investment Lesson

It pays to stay informed. You are smart if you are a client and read this blog. We call it "being engaged" with your advisory firm.

A Tanker Company

We added shares of Nordic American Tanker Shipping (Symbol NAT) to our Growth portfolio in August of 2010.

Why invest in a company that is in a highly cyclical, capital intensive industry with low barriers to entry you might ask?

There is a lot to like about Nordic American's business model:

• The company has traditionally carried little to no debt giving it great financial flexibility, especially in economic downturns. This is a huge competitive advantage in a capital intensive industry.


• Its tankers are newer double hulled ships, meaning it does not face the need to replace obsolete tankers.


• It continues to have access to equity markets where it issues new shares to purchase new tankers. While management of many companies issue shares to fund "Empire Building," Nordic American's management has been very disciplined in using the cash it receives from equity issuance to grow the fleet of tankers.

While the stock price has suffered through most of 2010 due to falling shipping rates, the best time to buy into shipping companies is when shipping rates are down.

Although the company continues to pay a variable dividend based on operating performance, management still continues to have the goal of paying out the majority of operating profits to shareholders.

Think about it: An investor who bought a share of NAT on 9/30/1997 at $18.75 would have received $41.51 in dividends through 2/3/11. Not too shabby a return.