Author Archives: Carl from Chicago

2009 Stock Selections – Performance Review

Every year I select six stocks and each portfolio selects two of those stocks to invest in. This post looks back on how my 2009 stock selections performed. The short answer is, not too well. The average of the six … Continue reading

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Preliminary Stock Selections for 2010

It is almost the time of year for stock picking for the trust funds that I run.  There are 5 this year, with some as long as 9 years and others on their 2nd year.  The plan is that I … Continue reading

Posted in Stocks | 5 Comments

Utility Stock Research

It is time to start researching stocks for the 2010 trust fund recommendations (I recommend six stocks in total, each fund takes two, unless there are some special sells needed or consolidation).  While doing this, I also look for opportunities … Continue reading

Posted in Stocks | 3 Comments

Lack of New IPO’s and Impact on Performance

If you read typical finance articles out in popular media you commonly see facts and figures about how US stocks outperform other investment classes over “the long term”.  As I do my own research I tend to see threads leading … Continue reading

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Portfolio Five Performance Update July 2010

Portfolio Five began last year. There are 2 stocks in the portfolio, and a total of $1500 invested. The current market value is $1394, which means that a loss of 7% was sustained. The stocks are Sinopec (SNP) and Siemens … Continue reading

Posted in Portfolio Tracking | 4 Comments

Portfolio Four Performance Update July 2010

Portfolio Four began last year. There are 2 stocks in the portfolio, and a total of $1500 invested. The current market value is $1310, which means that it dropped about 12% during the year, a bit more than US indexes. … Continue reading

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Portfolio Three Performance Updated July, 2010

Portfolio three has been in existence for three years, during one of the roughest and most volatile stock market periods. This portfolio is worth $3539 and dropped about 9% during the quarter, which is mostly in line with US indexes. … Continue reading

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Portfolio Two Performance Updated July, 2010

Portfolio two is my second longest running portfolio. It has been in existence for 6 years. The portfolio lost 12% during the quarter, with the indexes dropping about 10% and then the ADR’s in foreign currency generally falling a bit … Continue reading

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Portfolio One Performance Updated July 2010

Portfolio One is my longest lived portfolio. This portfolio has been building up for nine years, and has a 3.1% return over that period. You can see the detail behind this portfolio as of July 2010 on the right sidebar. … Continue reading

Posted in Portfolio Tracking | 2 Comments

Time To Calculate Portfolio Performance

It takes me some significant time to calculate performance on the 5 portfolios that I run. This is due to the fact that I do a lot of analysis on stocks held today and previous sales as well as calculate … Continue reading

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Currency Impact on ADR’s

In a previous post I calculated the impact of currency change on a specific ADR, Diageo, the UK spirits company. To do this, I looked at the price in US dollars on the US exchange (in this case the NYSE) … Continue reading

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The Importance of Saving and Thrift

Yesterday I had a chance to talk to my nieces and nephews who participate in this program and they were working summer jobs and other odd jobs to collect the money to invest so that they can receive their “match”. … Continue reading

Posted in The Big Picture | 5 Comments

Tax Update

When Dan and I were first invited to join Chicago Boyz Jonathan mentioned my high quality posts on energy and taxation.  Recently I have not been writing too often about taxation because the news from the US perspective has been … Continue reading

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Word Press 3.0

This site recently upgraded to Word Press 3.0.  I initially did not understand all of the enhancements present in the new version.  I went to the Word Press.org site and saw a brief video and boy, oh boy are there … Continue reading

Posted in Announcements | 1 Comment

Impact of Currency Moves On An ADR

One of the stocks recommended in prior years’ and currently held in Portfolio 2 is Diageo, the UK spirits company.  Since the portfolios that I run for my nephews and nieces only purchase and hold stocks on US exchanges (for … Continue reading

Posted in Stocks | 1 Comment

Antoine Walker An Example of Net Worth vs. Earnings

One of the prime concepts behind this site is the difference between “net worth” and “earnings”.  Net worth is what you have, left over, after all of your liabilities (mortgage, car payment, student loans, and other debts) are paid off.  … Continue reading

Posted in The Big Picture | 1 Comment

Almost Time For Stock Picking Season

As a brief overview again of how my trust funds work: I set up individual trust funds for my nieces and nephews when they are around 11-12 Every year I contribute $500 / each, they contribute $500 each, and then … Continue reading

Posted in Stocks, Trust Fund Details | 1 Comment

Bond Bubble?

A recent Wall Street Journal article titled “Bond Fund Managers See Signs of A Bubble” discusses the state of the bond market and large inflows into bond mutual funds by investors seeking returns and attempting the avoid the risk that … Continue reading

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Market Timing

In the past I, like many general investors, shied away from the concept of market timing. It was viewed as too difficult, and many investors left the markets when stocks went down and then missed the rally on the way … Continue reading

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The Psychology of Gifting

While I called out Gail Marks Jarvis of the Chicago Tribune for her article on our assumed rate of return, she provided what seems to be solid advice on the topic of giving in an article titled “Financial Cord Can … Continue reading

Posted in The Big Picture | 2 Comments