Turfscape (40.38)

My big moves

August 09, 2011 – Comments (4) | RELATED TICKERS: SWC , JCI , MTW

Happy Market Panic to you, fellow Fools! How are you celebrating the irrational market today? I've jumped in with both feet, making a few moves into new positions that I had been watching for a while:

1) SWC - Stillwater Mining Company. SWC mines rare metals such as platinum and palladium. They also extract PMs from recyclable items. They posted record earnings and profits recently. They have a strong cash flow. But, the stock price has dropped significantly for a few reasons: Wall Street expectations for profit were slightly higher than the record number SWC produced; SWC has chosen to diversify into copper and gold, along with its platinum group focus (which "Wall Street" found confusing for whatever reason); and, of course, everyone and their mother is out screaming in the streets about the nation's credit downgrade...selling off everything and anything to save the family farm (I guess). At $13/share SWC was too attractive to pass up any longer.

2) JCI - Johnson Controls, Inc. JCI has a few divisions: Automotive Systems, Batteries and Building Controls. Two of those groups are the exact right industries to benefit to the current global marketplace: Building Systems has a focus on energy efficiency, driving down costs for heating, cooling, lighting, etc...; and Batteries are, quite literally, EVERYWHERE. JCI's advanced battery manufacturing is supporting a wide variety of applications, from Hybrid Cars to backup power systems. This is a solid company with solid performance over a very long timeframe. At $30/share...it's a bargain.

3) MTW - Manitowoc Company. MTW manufactures cranes, food service equipment and marine vehicles and components. This is a company that has gone through some hard times and learned some hard lessons. They're still coming out of a restructuring, and are really only just starting to see the benefits of cost-cutting measures. I jumped into this one just a day or so early, but at $13/share, the future looks bright for MTW. At $9.50/share...it seems like a can't miss opportunity.