Monday, January 28, 2008

Harrah Done Deal, Navteq Next…

The Harrah’s Entertainment acquisition officially closes today so I’ll generate a 2.08% return over a ~ 1 month period, which comes out to ~ 24% annualized. It’s actually a bit more since I used margin to purchase additional shares. It was a relatively low risk way to generate quick income. I have to admit a lot of the LBO deals out there look very shaky right now and I would avoid most of them. I was considering Penn National Gaming as my next merger play, but I decided to go for Navteq, which is being acquired by Nokia for $78 in cash. I picked up some Navteq today at $73.76 and $73.38 per share. I’m looking for this deal to close late February to March time frame. You’re looking at a 5-6% return over ~ 2 months. Financing is not a concern and you’re just waiting for the European Trade Commission to give its “ok” on the deal.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

More Harrah's

Not much going on with my portfolio these days. I’m just watching from the sidelines and playing it conservative. Yesterday, I picked up more Harrah’s at $88.86 as a buyout play. This deal is expected to close on Monday for $90 per share in cash. There’s always risk that this deal may fall apart at the last minute, but that’s why there’s the risk premium in the stock. This is one of the stronger LBO plays and my bet is that this deal will close.

Here are my recent trades in Harrah’s:

12/13/07 Buy @ $87.08
12/21/07 Buy @ $88.60
01/23/08 Buy @ $88.86

I guess we’ll see on Monday if it closes…

Monday, January 14, 2008

Biotech Preview from The Street.com

Well, the JP Morgan Healthcare conference turned out to be a big success for many stocks. Now that the conference is over; all eyes will now focus on Q1 earnings. The Street.com has a very good summary of the upcoming earnings from Amgen (Ticker: AMGN), Biogen Idec (Ticker: BIIB), Celgene (Ticker: CELG), Genzyme (Ticker: GENZ)and Gilead (Ticker: GILD). Here's the link to The Street.com article: click here.

My favorite big cap plays right now are Genzyme and Gilead. Both have terrific fundamentals and technicals.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Biotech 08

It’s been a very good week for biotech investors. The JP Morgan Healthcare conference provided lots of assurance for investors that the sector is alive and kicking. Pretty much all of the big cap companies such as Amgen, Biogen, Celgene, Genzyme, etc… reiterated or guided up their 2008 forecasts. The only big cap that has not presented yet is Genentech, which will present today at 5:30 EST. Genentech will not reveal much in terms of financial forecasts since they’ll be announcing earnings on Monday, 1/4.

I see a big shift into the biotech sector this year. The biotechs have easily outperformed the general indexes so far and with a weakening economy, biotech is the place to be. We have very attractive valuations and companies growing earnings nicely. My goal for this year is to be more patient and hold on more tightly to the winners. Trading will only make your broker and the Uncle Sam rich.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Link To JP Morgan Healthcare Conference

Here's the registration link to the 26th Annual Healthcare Conference: click here.