Friday, October 10, 2008

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 2

The market is still very ugly today. Perhaps there is not enough blood on the streets yet. I do not know what to say. The markets have gone insane. Maybe the mob that makes up the market will have the opportunity to rethink what they are doing over our long weekend. Remember that the real losers are those that sell into such a market. If the companies you invest in, do not go bankrupt or are not permanently damaged by the bear market, you will be ok.

Today I want to look closer at the stocks that had dividend increases in September. I was surprised, I must say, that the Pembina Pipelines stocks was given a Hold rating. I know that it is not perfect, but with the dividend increase and insider buying, I was wondering if a Hold rating was deserved. I was therefore already wondering what sort of rating the other stocks for which I got dividend increases in September were fairing via the analysts. These stocks were Manulife Financial, Russel Metals, and Saputo.

The first one is Manulife Financial (TSX-MFC). Wherever I look, I see Buy and Strong Buy ratings on this stock. This is a financial stock and it does have some exposure to the current problems. There is also lots of insider selling. This is mainly by Dominic D'alessandro who is retiring as CEO of this company. This could explain his selling. I have made an average of 9% annual return on this stock since I first bought it in May 2005. However, this is very much slated because of the current bear market.

The next one is Russel Metals (TSX-RUS). There are some Buy ratings on this stock and some Hold ratings. There is also lots of insider selling. You, of course, only know that there is insider selling. No reasons are given and I do not know of any. So far, I have not made any money on this stock, but I just brought it in April 2007. It is far too early to tell how good a stock this will be for me.

The last stock is Saputo (TSX-SUP). There are ratings on this stock from Strong Buys to Holds with the main average being Buy. Here again there is insider selling, but it seems to be all connected to stock options. Since I first bought this stock in November 2007, I have made an average annual return of 16.8%.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets on my web site.

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