Top Selling Stock Investment Books

These are the top selling investment books in the stocks category:

The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing, 2010 Edition

One Up On Wall Street : How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market

Stock Investing For Dummies

The How to Make Money in Stocks Complete Investing System: Your Ultimate Guide to Winning in Good Times and Bad

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

Stock Trader's Almanac 2012

We closed out the week and the month on a positive note as the Dow gained 66 points today on light volume. The advance/declines were positive. The overall market was weaker than the Dow and the summation index is still moving to the downside. I still think that we'll be moving higher here but that's a guess as usual. Beginning of the month money flows should help the bullish case for the beginning of next week. GE was up 1/8 on light volume. Moving sideways there now for the most part. I'm probably still going to be a buyer of the May calls before the earnings announcement in April. Gold gained about $15 on the futures today as the US dollar was lower. The dollar almost broke a near term support line today but has strong support at the 78 level. The XAU was up 1 2/3. ABX rose 1/3, GG up 2/3 and NEM was a touch lower on the day. Volume was light. My April ABX calls are still in the black. However GG is once again showing much better relative strength and I really should have purchased the calls there instead. There is a possible positive RSI divergence for ABX on the daily charts though. We'll have to wait and see if that plays itself out to the upside as it normally would. Mentally I'm feeling tired, did not sleep well again. We had some selling this week but the stock indices still managed to make some gains. The trend remains up as it has been for months now. A holiday shortened week coming up, with the employment report due on the holiday with the markets closed. That could be interesting. I'm in another ABX April call trade and I'll have to figure out what exactly to do there this weekend. I would like to try the May gold share calls as well. We'll see. I'm still on the back-up computer and these issues should be taken care of sometime next week. For now it's Friday afternoon and time for a rest.

What Stocks has Warren Buffett Been Buying?

Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B), is the third richest person in the world, due to his astute investing. Many investors follow in the footsteps of this famous trader and investor by piggybacking on his investments. So what has he been up to lately according to reports filed with the SEC?

First let's start with what he has gotten rid of. He sold off his holdings in ExxonMobil (XOM), selling off over 421,000 shares for about $30.6 million. But he is not totally bearish on major oil companies, as he still owns shares in ConocoPhillips (COP), a stock which yields 3.4%.

In terms of what he has been buying, according to the latest free list of Warren Buffett stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, he purchased shares of DaVita Inc. (DVA), a provider of kidney dialysis services. The stock trades at 18 times current earnings and 12.9 times forward earnings. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 114.6% on a 13.1% rise in revenues. The company does not pay a dividend.

Warren Buffett also purchased shares of Liberty Media Corporation (LMCA), a media and entertainment company. The stock has a price to earnings ration of 13.1. Earnings were down over 50% for the latest quarter, however revenues almost doubled. Thsi stock also does not pay a dividend.

For a list of all the Warren Buffett Berkeshire Hathaway stocks, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.


By Stockerblog.com

The Dow managed a gain of 19 points today on average volume. The advance/declines were negative. The overall market was weaker than the Dow. It was a one day reversal to the upside, as the Dow opened lower and closed higher. That would imply higher prices going forward. However the summation index continues lower. We'll end the month tomorrow and go from there. Still overbought on the stock index technicals. GE was off a touch on light volume. Sideways here for the past couple of weeks. Still considering the May calls and would like to purchase them before the earnings report in April. The technicals are mid range here. Gold was off $5 on the futures but came back a bit in the aftermarket. The US dollar ended the day little changed. The XAU was up 1/3 and showed the same positive one day reversal as did the Dow. ABX was flat on the day, while GG and NEM lost 1/8. Volume was average. The gold shares now appear to have bullish hammers on the daily candlestick charts, depending on where we go from here. My open order for the ABX April calls was filled in the morning but I really should have adjusted it to get a better price. They are slightly in the black. I'm not sure how long I'll be holding them but will until at least next week. The technicals on the gold shares remain oversold. Mentally I'm feeling tired, did not sleep well. The next trade is now on. I was lazy this morning, which is unacceptable. The game is hard enough without making it any harder on yourself. The weekly as well as daily charts for the gold shares are oversold, so I think getting the calls here is the right choice. I would still like to go out to May on this trade as well. But as we all know, the markets will go where they want. The Gold/XAU ratio remains in a strong buy. We'll see what happens. The stock indexes have been weaker this week but I'm still looking for higher prices into the April expiration. The trend still remains up for now.

Funds that Own Facebook Stock

It is now much harder for the wealthy to buy shares of Facebook in private transactions. SharesPost, one of the leading marketplaces for non-publicly traded companies, just announced that the company "will cease facilitating transactions in Facebook stock as of Friday end of day to help ensure the company's orderly transition into the public markets." This was done at the request of Facebook.

Yet, investors both big and small still have an opportunity to acquire shares indirectly, by buying stock in funds that own shares of Facebook. The options are mutual funds, which are priced once a day based on the net asset value, or closed end funds, which trade on exchanges all day long just like a regular stock.

WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has turned up two closed end funds that own shares of Facebook, on its free list of Facebook Stocks. One of the CEFs is GSV Capital (GSVC), which specializes in investing in venture capital backed private companies. The company name comes from Global Silicon Valley Capital. It owns a fairly diverse portfolio of innovative businesses, such as Bloom Energy, Dropbox, TrueCar, Twitter, and even SharesPost. It also owns a couple companies that have recently gone public, including Zynga (ZNGA) and Groupon (GRPN).

But most important, according to the company's fourth quarter Schedule of Investments as of December 31, 2011, there are 350,000 Class B common shares on the books at a cost of $10,465,981. The holdings represent 14.63% of the company's portfolio.

In the last three months, the GSV share price has risen from around 14 per share to 20 currently, an increase of 42%. Yes GSV has yet moved as much as another CEF that owns Facebook, the Firsthand Technology Value Fund (SVVC), which has increased in price from less than 15 per share to almost 37 today, a boost of 60%. It actually traded above 40 a couple days ago but had a pullback.

In terms of mutual funds that own Facebook stock, the T. Rowe Price Media & Telecommunications Fund (PRMTX) has approximately 1.2% of its portfolio in Facebook shares, a fairly small percentage compared to the closed end funds.

To see a list of over 25 of the companies that own Facebook stock, check out the free list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated.

Disclosure: Author owns GSVC and SVVC. No recommendations of any of the above stocks is expressed or implied.

By Stockerblog.com

We continued lower today but finished off of the worst levels as the Dow fell 71 points on average volume. The advance/declines were about 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is heading lower. I'm not exactly sure what's next but what else is new? Still overbought on the technicals for the stock indices. 2 days remaining this month. Volatility spiked up early today but then fell back. We could go either way near term but I'm still looking for higher prices into the April option expiration. GE ended up flat on the day on better volume. We're moving sideways again here. The May calls for GE are still on my radar. If the options get to the price level that I'd like to pay, I'll probably give that trade a try. Gold fell today, off over $25 on the futures. The US dollar was marginally higher. The XAU lost 3 7/8. ABX down 2/3, GG lower by 1/2 and NEM shed another buck. I placed an overnight order for the April ABX calls but it wasn't filled. I'm leaving it in overnight and I may modify it early tomorrow morning. Oversold on the technicals plus the Gold/XAU ratio is still deep in the buy zone. The Gold/XAU ratio has been in the buy zone for quite some time yet the gold shares continue lower. That won't last forever. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired, did not sleep well. We'll have to see how the stock indexes fare tomorrow afters todays decline and comeback. We'll also be looking to see if gold follows through to the downside. I'll consider the ABX April call trade again tonight and try to decide what to do tomorrow. I still think that purchasing the ABX calls again here is the proper trade. We'll see.

Digesting yesterdays gains today as the Dow fell 44 points on light volume. The advance/declines were negative. Not exactly sure where we go from here but I am still looking for higher prices. The stock indexes kind of fell apart in the last hour and that usually means lower prices ahead. End of the month on Friday as well. The summation index is moving sideways. GE was flat on the day with light volume as well. I'm still waiting on the May calls here as the price hasn't reached the level that I'd like to purchase just yet. Patience is required and there is no hurry for now. Gold was off a touch on the futures and fell $5 in the aftermarket. The US dollar was bit higher today and is trying to hold an upside trend line on the daily charts that has been in effect since November. If it holds we'll see a rally in the dollar and that would not be positive for gold. If it doesn't hold than the opposite should occur. The XAU fell 2 1/2. ABX off 2/3, GG lost 1/2 and NEM lower by a buck. When the stock market continued to drop in the final hour, I dumped the ABX calls. The profit was 45%. I needed to have a winning trade and I at least accomplished that but the profit could have been better. I still like this trade and will probably put in an overnight order to buy these again. Or perhaps go out to May, which is the preferred idea. The Gold/XAU ratio remains solidly in the bullish buy zone which leads me to believe the gold shares calls will work again. We'll see. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept well enough. We'll have to see if there is any follow through downside for the stock indices tomorrow morning. Still overbought on the technicals. I'll be keeping an eye on the gold shares for follow through to the downside as well. Perhaps will try the April calls again this week. Not much else to report for now.