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TMFDeej (99.47)

The TMFDeej Quarterly Charity Challenge

Recs

11

January 04, 2013 – Comments (13)

Good morning CAPS friends.  I am going to keep this post short, but sweet because I m absolutely swamped with work this week.  I have made a lot of positive changes in my life over the past several years.  One of them is trying to give back more by donating to charity.  I am also trying to involve my two young boys in the process as well.  When I recently won my fantasy football league, I donated a portion of the winnings and I let them pick the charities that I split it amongst.  I think that it was very worthwhile involving them in the process, telling them about how blessed we are to have such a wonderful life and about who we would be helping.

So inspired by RD80's post where he donated money to charity for every comment his post received, I have decided to set up a charity challenge for myself here in CAPS.  No, I'm not donating a dollar for every rec that I receive.  I do enjoy receiving recs, but not for the reasons that I used to.  Years ago I would post political cartoons and things in this blow just because I knew that they would generate recs.  Now I like getting them more because it just helps me to know that people are actually reading my posts.  In stead of recs, I have decided to donate a certain amount of money to charity for every CAPS point that I earn in my portfolio this quarter to charity.

I am using the quarter rather than the year for several reasons.  First, I have no idea how much this is going to cost and I don't want to end up donating a million dollars that I don't have.  Second, it increases the frequency that I can discuss the philanthropy with my kids.  So, how much per point should I give?  I have decided to go with $0.25 per point, with a minimum of $100.  I plan on having an amazing quarter so the minimum shouldn't matter, but I set the minimum just in case.  We can adjust the amount per point next quarter if we need to.

So there is it.  I'll set the starting point value at 5,200 and the end date at 3/31/13.

I need everyone's help though for two things.  One I would like nominations of worthy causes that I can donate to.  I will put together a list of them and let my young kids choose the winners.  And Two, I need market-beating stock ideas.

So there it is.  Thanks for reading everyone!  Have a wonderful day.

Deej

13 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On January 04, 2013 at 11:45 AM, EnigmaDude (96.57) wrote:

OK I accept your challenge!  Here are two picks that I believe have a good chance of doing well in Q1 due to the housing recovery.  They are ELLI (Ellie Mae, Inc.) and STC (Stewart Information Services).

Fool on, Deej!

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#2) On January 04, 2013 at 11:49 AM, TMFDeej (99.47) wrote:

Thanks for reading and for the comment, Enigma.  I like the idea of playing the housing recovery, but as you know I'm a special situation guy at heart.  I'm probably going to avoid making specific macro bets in my portfolio unless there is some sort of special situation involved.  If we can find smoething with a special sit and an economic or demographic tailwind all the better.  Is there anything unusual about either company?  I haven't followed either all that closely.

Have a great weekend!

Deej

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#3) On January 04, 2013 at 12:12 PM, catoismymotor (67.50) wrote:

Deej,

Stock ideas: I like MKL because I think it is bound to pick up where it left off after the drop. I also like PRIM as a momentum play.

Charity ideas: A local battered womens shelter or Doctors Without Borders.

Best of luck and a happy new year to you.

-Cato

 

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#4) On January 04, 2013 at 1:22 PM, MegaShort (99.95) wrote:

Great writeup on MKL here, the economics of the merger make sense: http://brooklyninvestor.blogspot.com/2012/12/markel-alterra-merger.html

Under pressure from hedge funds, HIG just started a major restructuring. This is John Paulson's first activist position I know of, and it's been very successful so far (especially considering how terrible the rest of his bets have been the past few years).  Even after the current run, HIG still trades at less than half of tangible book.

http://www.fool.com/investing/businesswire/2013/01/02/the-hartford-completes-execution-milestone-closes-.aspx?source=itxsitmot0000001&lidx=2

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#5) On January 04, 2013 at 1:42 PM, MegaShort (99.95) wrote:

Also, great idea Deej. Hope you have a successful quarter!

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#6) On January 04, 2013 at 7:10 PM, EnigmaDude (96.57) wrote:

Deej - see my blog on Petrobank Energy. That's a special sitch that you may be interested in.

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#7) On January 04, 2013 at 7:14 PM, EnigmaDude (96.57) wrote:

Ignore comment #6 - you already commented on that blog. I don't know enough about Petrobank/Petrobakken to recommend it for your charity drive.

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#8) On January 04, 2013 at 7:38 PM, Option1307 (30.47) wrote:

Great idea!

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#9) On January 04, 2013 at 10:58 PM, rd80 (99.10) wrote:

Stock idea - Vantage Drilling (VTG).  Not sure if it meets the special situation, but it recently refinanced a lot of junk debt with cheaper junk debt and will save a bunch in interest.  Add in a new drillship just going under contract and another one about to be delivered and losses should turn in to gains.  See my pitch for more. 

Charities - Since you want your kids to be involved, consider a charity where the money goes to something specific they can relate to - farm animals, school supplies, etc.  I don't have a specific rec, but there are lots of them.

Disclosure:  Long Vantage - fortunately at a better real life entry price than with my CAPS pick.

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#10) On January 06, 2013 at 10:02 AM, TMFDeej (99.47) wrote:

I agree with you, Cato and Mega.  MKL definitely does look interesting.  I would even consider a company experiencing an unwarranted drop after a solid acquisition to be sort of a special situation do it fits in my portfolio.  I actually added MKL here in CAPS a week or so ago.  Thanks for the link to the Brooklyn Investor article.  He writes some awesome stuff, even if I'm not much of a banking investor.  I'm not sure that this one is for me with real money, but I love the idea for here.

Deej 

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#11) On January 06, 2013 at 10:06 AM, TMFDeej (99.47) wrote:

Thanks for the Vantage tip RD.  The refinancing of debt and a new ship sound special to me.  I consider any event-driven investment to be right up my alley.  I like catalysts, rather than buying companies and just hoping that they go up.

Deej 

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#12) On January 06, 2013 at 1:13 PM, valuemoneygreen (80.91) wrote:

NSC.... Mississippi river low levels. Deisel fuel rising. Sell point. $75.

Full disclousure.... I own shares of NSC. I bought @ $59.03

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#13) On January 06, 2013 at 1:28 PM, valuemoneygreen (80.91) wrote:

sorry bought at $57.09

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