May - June, 2014 'Ah silly me, and here I was thinking that the whole purpose of taxes was to fund the necessary operations of government, not to penalize people for various offenses against the government. ' ~Bill Eaud ---------------------------------- '...I choose not to return to work. At 61, retired with modest pension and gearing up for early Social Security, I could still have a part time job as a licensed RN in short order. My problem? Since my retirement income is taxed at both the state and federal level already, any additional income would be taxed too. And working just to hand my income over to foreign countries, illegal immigrants, profitable corporations and generations of welfare recipients......it just shuts me down. Volunteering? Not me. I'd probably get dragged into a court on trumped up charges because I touched someone and said "Good job, kid".' ~NowUCme Max - 1,  Bunny - 0

The Professional Opinion - DJ 16717.17 Buy Recommendations None Sell Recommendations None   Bandon, Oregon -  a nice place to vacation with the exception of unintended consequences........like mosquitoes.

 

Value and Dividend-yielding stocks seem to have won out the month.  Even the GNMA's are doing well as evidenced by this month's winners.   Pays to diversify!

May has been an unremarkable month, although I thought there were some bargains to be had out there. I decided to take a position in DDD because I liked the price and I suspect the sector is in its infancy. DDD seems to have the most potential for future value.   Price is right, anyway. Shifting a bit towards a less volatile portfolio and a bit more yield, PETS was worth a small investment at the current price. Something weird is going on with all those Central American kids showing up at the border, don't you think?  That has to be orchestrated..........

Bottom Fishing - Looking a Few Opportunities for Yield IGT got suitably crushed when the company did not make their earnings estimates and I think that was way overblown. At twelve dollars and change, and a PE of 13.47, the current yield of over 3.5% looks very attractive.  I'm back in. Petmed Express I've held off and on over the past couple years.  For a small company, it has been paying a reliable dividend and 5% is nothing to sneeze at. I got back in at $12.90 and plan on holding for the longer term. Staples got a major haircut after another poor earnings season.  Coupled with plans to close a bunch of bricks and mortar stores, the stock took a nosedive. That's ok with me though, because most of my original shares were purchased in the low 11's anyway.  Staples is only behind Amazon when it comes to on line retailing.  I think longer term, the company will do fine.  In the interim a yield of 4%  reinvested in new shares of course, is not an unattractive place to have some money invested. Staples is one of my favorites for swing-trading and the last month has been a profitable one with all the volatility going on.   I have a core holding in Staples.  Believe it or not,  it is second only to Amazon when it comes to on-line retailing. 3D Systems I bought for a short time in the thirties and sold out in the 50's.  The stock had quite a run after that, as well as a precipitous fall.  At 46 and change, the company still sports a PE of over 100.  Of the 3D printing companies currently occupying the space,  I think DDD is the best of the bunch and just about the only one that actually earns a profit.  I'm thinking about taking a position in DDD again and was surprised to see the partnership with Staples, albeit a small one but,  two stores is a starting point. On the Speculative Side.... Nevada Copper is about as speculative as I'd ever care to get.  We'll see if Harry can actually do something useful for the state, Lyon county in particular and help get the land bill passed.  This is the most encouraging bit of news I've seen.  Locally, there have several radio ads extolling the virtues of getting the Pumpkin Hollow mine up and running.   Based on this last news release,  I would say Nevada Copper is worth a small speculation.   Bear in mind that any dollars invested in a company of this sort..............taking those dollars, throwing them up in the air on a windy day.........can just as often achieve the same results. And Reuters has an 'Outperform' rating on the stock..................a Pink Sheet Penny Stock...............really?? Synovus Financial (SNV) after the Reverse Split ...... an 11.87% return so far after the reverse split........not bad!!!!    And June......the latest   Capitalist Pigs News Letter This would be funnier if it wasn't so true.

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