It was the technicals that first grabbed my attention with Community Bank System Inc. (NYSE:CBU). It was the fundamentals, however, that kept my attention. Both will be important if CBU is ever to make the leap from the watchlist to the actual portfolio.
I don’t know that I’ve ever mentioned this before, but my technical (chart-based) [...]

Though all stocks have been headed higher (despite) the odds over the last couple of weeks, many sectors are just topping off what’s been a multi-month rally. Since those trends are likely to be near their end, we still want to look for industries that appear to just now be starting a nice, long-term move. [...]

I just want to post a quick note and some good news about our PAETEC Holdings (PAET) position. We’re back in the black thanks to today’s big push higher (5.0%). More importantly, we tackled a fairly significant short-term hurdle that could/should unlock some solid long-term movement (the kind we’re trying to capture).
Take a look at [...]

After being on the watchlist for weeks, IDEX Corporation (IEX) is finally graduating to the real portfolio. IDEX has held steadily inside the rising channel we mentioned when I first expressed interest in the stock. If the trend was going to break, it would have done so by now (in the midst of the market’s [...]

I know as we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another, many of us are looking to clean the slate and start with a fresh portfolio come January 1st. I’m all for it too. However, I’m also afraid too many of you are thinking about tapping into the highly-popularized ‘Dogs of [...]

I know I’ve been fairly quite of late. That’s not from a lack of wanting to make a move – it’s just a reflection of the stifled market right now. I buy on dips. I buy into momentum. When you’ve got neither (like now) and you try and force a trade though, the risk is [...]

Earlier this week I posted a sector rotation graphic that will be serving as the basis for our allocation tactics as 2009 turns into 2010. If that basic overweight/underweight information by sector was good enough for you, then great. However, I still want to walk everyone through the ‘drill down’ process to see if we [...]

We’ve danced around the issue a few times now, looking at a style and cap rotation chart on the 17th, and a sector rotation chart on the 10th.  We even discussed the ‘typical’ economic cycle back in October. Today, I’m going to put it all together and lay out a target portfolio for the beginning [...]

By now surely most of you are aware that Warren Buffett has decided to add all of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) to his Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) fund. He already owned 20% of it – he’s getting the rest for about $36 billion and the assumption of about $10 billion in Burlington debt. (How’d you [...]

As I continue to doubt the longevity of the market’s bullishness, I’ve been content to stay on the sidelines rather than plow into any new ideas. If I can save a few points on a trade by stepping in at a short-term low rather than a short-term high, so much the better… a nickel here [...]