After selling my Neenah Paper today, I have $1026 and change in cash. I'll be putting another thousand into the account after the holiday and will probably sell my LEN soon. Where to go next? Possibilities include:
Sears Holdings (SHLD). This is the combined Sears/K-Mart entity run by Eddie Lampert. Cramer likes it a lot because (IIRC) the company has a lot of store locations they may no longer need and which may be sold at a tremendous profit over book value. Also, Lampert is earning a reputation as the next Warren Buffett and if he's running the show, many people think things are looking up just by definition. I worked for Sears when I was in college, and I know firsthand how screwed-up that company was. K-Mart from all accounts was in an even worse situation. If Lampert can do an even modest turnaround of the company, the stock may do quite well. If I get into this stock at all, I'll hold it for a year or even more, probably.
Paxar (PXR). This is a July Hidden Gems pick. I'm not too impressed with their other one (Columbia Sports, COLM), but I kinda like this one. They make tags. Yes, tags. For clothes. The ones with the brand, the ones with the care instructions, and other stuff. They design tags, they manufacture them. I had no idea clothing companies outsourced this kind of thing and I bet most other people don't either. They're moving into RFID. This might well be a great pick. It's already up 3.5% since the recommendation -- I might wait for a pullback before buying.
Sector Plays. Cramer's calling for a summer tech rally; PalmOne's earnings report today (up 26% year-over-year; annual earnings up 34%) may be the first volley, though it doesn't seem to have moved their stock (PLMO) much. Energy (oil/gas) and biotech are also places I might go speculating. I think buying one stock in each sector is probably a little too risky for me, but maybe an ETF in each?
I'd also like to own some Cheesecake Factory (CAKE). If I can't eat it anymore, and I really shouldn't, at least I can earn money on it! Plus it's a well-run company with a lot of growth potential that has achieved its success with no advertising. Haven't looked at its valuation, but I love eating there. Other stocks I'll be investigating are TurboChef (OVEN) and Treehouse Foods (THS). The former is a company that makes high-speed ovens for restaurants; Subway and Starbucks are doing trials. The latter is a new Dean Foods spinoff helmed by the guy who turned around Keebler. Both are Cramer suggestions and thus require more research before I actually buy.
I'm in no real hurry, though; I can sleep on it for a week or two.
Posted by kindall at June 30, 2005 02:34 PM