***Tripster's 2008 Investments (Ongoing thread)***

Actually was a big shareholder of WHT around 2003/4, back before they became Silver Wheaton & were just Wheaton Silver. Always liked their business & reserve capacity. I'm a big fan of silver & they are to me the go to company when it comes to Silver, Co'oer is a distant second. Considering the high silver price I'd expect good earnings,Silver in my opinion will cross over 20.oo/oz in '08. Gold is the only metal I can't fully feel comfortable with as it's a non consumable metal/I prefer things that get used up..Silver Wheaton is a great co., so if you're in it hang with it..Silver prices will lead the way higher for it & other silver miners...

PAL did as expected & shook some weak hands out today, the fearful bunch who are just buying for fun sake & when it shifts to the downside they have no clue about the big picture so they bail....Solid Close..lets hope for a full cross of 2k/oz on plat come Monday..Looking for my Mar 10s to go in the money...


Ok, I just threw money into pal, so what am I expecting? I just started ING/Sharebuilder's automatic investment plan.
 
Just sit tight with it, expect as the price rises to see more volatility. Keep an eye on Platinum Metals Prices & if they start to swing big both up & down, expect PAL to do the same. I think you're likely asking me for a price to be expecting,,that I will not say, you have to monitor daily to see what price points are next to be looked at, come Monday $10 is the next target..as for further out,,like I said, day by day. Best of luck with your holdings,.
 
Just sit tight with it, expect as the price rises to see more volatility. Keep an eye on Platinum Metals Prices & if they start to swing big both up & down, expect PAL to do the same. I think you're likely asking me for a price to be expecting,,that I will not say, you have to monitor daily to see what price points are next to be looked at, come Monday $10 is the next target..as for further out,,like I said, day by day. Best of luck with your holdings,.
 
What you have to do is look past the stock of PAL & SWC & look at the real world picture:

I have been reading none stop about this platinum/palladium situation all weekend...:eek:WOW! This would make a good movie. So there is a "electricity problem in South Africa which is slowing work in the mines drastically. For all we know there could be a precious metals civil war going on down there. A Russian Company named Norilsk Nickel is part owner of SWC and they usually send loads of plat & pal to Switzerland. But this year they say they will not...:confused: I honestly had no idea how much stuff plat & pall was used for besides catalytic converters and Jay-Z's necklace. They also need it for blueray discs. And China doesnt even have emitions tests but will soon have to upgrade catalytic converts! Along with many other countries! This is crazy. Im glad to be aprt of this. Also I learned POT was $12 a share 2 years ago:eek: Thanks for pointing out the big pic...

"I would have freed more slaves,If only they had known they were slaves" -Harriet Tubman
 
Info that might come in handy:

February 25, 2008
Game Maker in $2 Billion Bid for Rival
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and SETH SCHIESEL

Electronic Arts, the video gaming giant, made an unsolicited $2 billion bid on Sunday for rival Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, a deal that would further a wave of consolidation in the rapidly growing industry.

Electronic Arts, which publishes hit games like the Madden N.F.L. and Need for Speed series, offered to pay $26 a share for Take-Two, a 50 percent premium over its share price of $17.36 on Friday. The offer was made publicly after a series of private offers to Take-Two were rejected by its board.

Electronic Arts approached Take Two with a $26-a-share offer on Feb. 19, up from $25 share it initially offered on Feb. 15.

The timing of the bid appears to be an attempt to acquire Take-Two before it releases what is widely expected to be the top-selling game of 2008, the fourth installment of the crime thriller Grand Theft Auto. The Grand Theft Auto franchise, Take-Two’s crown jewel, has sold more than 60 million copies since Grand Theft Auto III took the game industry by storm in 2001.

Through its Rockstar subsidiary, Take-Two is scheduled to release the game on April 29 for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 consoles. If it lives up to consumers’ expectations, the game is expected to sell 10 million copies or more by the end of the year, which would almost certainly make Take-Two more expensive.

Electronic Arts’s dominance has been strongly challenged by Activision. Not only has Activision had a recent string of hits, notably Guitar Hero, it also recently agreed to merge with Vivendi’s game division to form a company called Activision Blizzard.

At the same time, E.A. has endured a growing chorus of criticism from some investors who say the company has lost its creative and innovative edge.

There is little doubt that E.A. remains the juggernaut of the video game industry. But it has come to rely heavily on sequels.

A merger with Take-Two would be a union of two vastly different companies. E.A. has a reputation for steady growth and fiscal discipline, while Take-Two is known as a mercurial one-hit wonder.

Electronic Arts said it was making its offer public to “bring its proposal to the attention of all Take-Two shareholders.” In a telephone interview on Sunday, Electronic Arts’ chief executive, John Riccitiello, said, “It is an enormous premium,” suggesting that rather than consider the offer hostile, “We think of ourselves as a ‘white knight.’ ”

Take-Two was far less generous. In a statement, Strauss Zelnick, the company’s chairman, said, “Electronic Arts’ proposal provides insufficient value to our shareholders and comes at absolutely the wrong time given the crucial initiatives under way at the company,” referring to the new Grand Theft Auto and other products.

Mr. Riccitiello said, however, he believed that Take-Two’s stock price already reflected an expectation among investors that Grand Theft Auto IV would be a success, and that Take-Two would become less valuable to E.A. after the game’s introduction than it was now.

Mr. Riccitiello said his offer’s timing reflected a desire to integrate Take-Two’s operations with E.A.’s before the all-important holiday shopping season. He said he had formed a relationship in recent years with Sam Houser, one of Rockstar’s founders, but added that he had avoided contacting Mr. Houser while pursuing his negotiations with Mr. Zelnick.

Mr. Zelnick said that Take-Two had offered to initiate discussions with Electronic Arts on April 30, the the day after Grand Theft Auto IV was scheduled for release. “We believe this offer demonstrated our commitment to pursuing all avenues to maximize stockholder value, while we believe that E.A.’s refusal to entertain this path is evidence of their desire to acquire Take-Two at a significant discount,” he said.Mr. Riccitiello refused to speculate about what steps he would take next, but it is possible that Electronic Arts could pursue a proxy contest to oust the board.

Over the next several weeks, Mr. Riccitiello’s main challenge will be to persuade investors to accept the deal and convince employees that Electronic Arts will respect the creative autonomy of Take-Two’s various development teams. Over the last decade, E.A. has acquired many high-profile game studios, including Westwood (the Command & Conquer series), Bullfrog Productions (Populous) and Origin Systems (Ultima), which essentially dissolved after Electronic Arts tried to direct and homogenize their creative output.

Any deal for Take-Two would be largely empty if Take-Two teams like Rockstar and Ken Levine’s group at 2K Boston, which recently released the acclaimed game BioShock, were to depart rather than work for E.A.

Mr. Riccitiello seems aware of the danger and is taking steps to convince the game industry of E.A.’s newfound respect for creative talent. At a well-received speech at an industry conference in Las Vegas earlier this month Mr. Riccitiello promised that in future deals, Electronic Arts would avoid killing the creative golden goose as it has in the past.

Matt Richtel contributed reporting.
 
What's interesting is usually the russians deliver a huge load into the Swiss & they have not for the first time in a long time.Some speculate that they have depleted thier reserves, I tend to think that they have now put themselves in the position to corner the market with those reserves they hold, they can let palladium into the market as they see fir (so i think), thier whole intent when palladium spiked to 1000/oz was to corner the market, so one would have to question why they would quell a rall & induce any bit of supply they have back into the market...Just another Cabal movement, Palladium shoudl see all time highs this year. Sit tight w/ your PAL investment ..will be quite a ride...As for POT,,,terrific returns there, There have been a few splits so the $12 is not actually a real number, but certianly it's returned wonderfully,,I am holding MOS, had to let POT go, even though it was avery tough decision. Should be an interesting week
 
I was just curious. Overall I like the amount of info Yahoo offers but I like the look of Google. MSN does have interesting info tho.

LOL...sounds like I can't make a decision.
 
I have a question about pre-market movement. Who are the people buying and selling stocks in the pre market? If you have Ameritrade can you buy and sell in the pre-market? I saw the article about EA trying to buy take Two and put in my order for Take Two at 1 am last night. What are my chances of getting the stock? I just checked and my order is still open.
 
Crazy ass close. 250 points up movement in the last 30 mins
dn't hve

Hey popozudalvr

I don't know if you follow Silver also but SILVER WHEATON CO (SLW) is reporting earnings on Monday

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?Feed=MW&Date=20080225&ID=8234522&Symbol=SLW

Silver Wheaton Corp. (TSX: SLW)(NYSE: SLW) is pleased to announce record annual 2007 net earnings of US$92 million (US$0.41 per share) and record operating cash flows of US$119 million (US$0.54 per share). Fourth quarter net earnings and operating cash flows were US$25 million (US$0.11 per share) and US$34 million (US$0.15 per share), respectively.
 
I have a question about pre-market movement. Who are the people buying and selling stocks in the pre market? If you have Ameritrade can you buy and sell in the pre-market? I saw the article about EA trying to buy take Two and put in my order for Take Two at 1 am last night. What are my chances of getting the stock? I just checked and my order is still open.

Pre-market can be crazy, sometimes you get lucky and snag a bargain on a limit order, sometimes IF you're chasing you end up paying a bit too muh. People buying on premarket are the same as those buying during the day, but the volume is substantially lower,,a high pre market volume may be 20k, when during the day the stock might trade 4M...so to me it's never a guage of what's happening unless its an assured UP or assured DOWN day.,
I do think Ameritrade offers it..
PreMArkets get live around 7am(light) then picks up around 9am(heavy), your odds are good if your limit is reasonable..but the stock is already spiked up 50% in premarkets:call holders must be McLovin it..lol..

TTWO
17.36 close
After Hours: 25.88 +8.52 / +49.08% Vol. 82,700
 
I have a question about pre-market movement. Who are the people buying and selling stocks in the pre market? If you have Ameritrade can you buy and sell in the pre-market? I saw the article about EA trying to buy take Two and put in my order for Take Two at 1 am last night. What are my chances of getting the stock? I just checked and my order is still open.


Pre-market hours: 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m eastern. You can place a order before that time but it will remain live & wont be matched until theres a taker after 8.am. All pre-open movement you see before that time are insiders & mm buying & selling. Ameritrade do offer pre market & after hours trading. Your odds are zero at getting ttwo for that 1.am price. If its worth chasing to you just up your limit bid to the ask price.
 
Visa is doing a BIG ipo. Unlike when mastercard dropped w/ only about a 2.4B at IPO, its gone up 5x, letting VISA be allowed to pull this big IPO out...once your bank/broker recieves its alotment of shares it will then alot to there choice customers..so it might be tough to get your hands on shares before the lock up period...good luck

excerpt--
Visa would follow Mastercard from being a privately held interest to a publicly traded company. Mastercard raised $2.39 billion in its IPO nearly two years ago.

At a midpoint price, Visa could raise about $15.6 billion, or more than $17 billion if underwriters exercise their option to buy the entire lot of 40.6 million shares.

Shares of Mastercard have risen fivefold since going public and are now trading at more than $203 each.
 
Does anybody know when VISA will issue it's IPO. How should I get ready for it. I trade through bank of America and it appears that they will be trading visa stocks. How will I know when it is released to the public?


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aZbbFt2tywqg&refer=canada


Most blogs are saying within the next month.

also heres their REGISTRATION STATEMENT filed today with the SEC
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1403161/000119312508036833/ds1a.htm
 
Visa is doing a BIG ipo. Unlike when mastercard dropped w/ only about a 2.4B at IPO, its gone up 5x, letting VISA be allowed to pull this big IPO out...once your bank/broker recieves its alotment of shares it will then alot to there choice customers..so it might be tough to get your hands on shares before the lock up period...good luck

excerpt--
Visa would follow Mastercard from being a privately held interest to a publicly traded company. Mastercard raised $2.39 billion in its IPO nearly two years ago.

At a midpoint price, Visa could raise about $15.6 billion, or more than $17 billion if underwriters exercise their option to buy the entire lot of 40.6 million shares.

Shares of Mastercard have risen fivefold since going public and are now trading at more than $203 each.


Hey POP,

I do the self directed trade, will I be able to buy it normally as soon as I know they are released, without having to talk to a broker?

Sorry about my stupid question, I am still new in this game.
 
By self directed, i take it you mean you have an acocunt that you manage thru one of the internet brokers..you'd be able to buy it,..if they let you..See with IPOs when a certain house gets x amount of shares they usually peddle it quick to the top buyers that want it..The first few days of an IPO trading rarely has any retial action its most always intistutional..so like i said while you be able to put in an order it could get a bit tough to land shares...................

On some other notes....
MOS/POT - A usual MOS outperforming POT, and sector...both hittin 53 week highs...no market like the agricultures!!none!!
PAL/SWC - Tug of war goin on, seems its a loading zone, some are building their blocks, others are getting taken out..Tommorow is a HUGE day, SWC releases earnings & possible guidance,,current prices - plat-2144/oz pall 526/oz, I think by end of day both will add 3-5%. Once this tug of war subsides in the afternoon
COIN - those that took the risk, you'll be well rewarded, its done great just need some news,,,best thing about COIN...4M shares outstanding....so bigger price moves....




Hey POP,

I do the self directed trade, will I be able to buy it normally as soon as I know they are released, without having to talk to a broker?

Sorry about my stupid question, I am still new in this game.
 
Well folks,,today was on point.....

From Jan 15th Post..Returns on the ones I dropped:
POT 1/18-$122 NOW $164,+34.42%
MOS 1/18-$80 NOW $117, +46.25%
PAL 1/18-$3.76 NOW $9.30, +147.34%
SWC 1/18-$8.13 NOW $19.00,+133.70%


**PAL played perfectly to prediction, haggled between 9.oo-9.10, for most the day & then picked up lil over 2%, closed at $9.20-at 2:30 i began the push & moved from 9.05 to the close at ***, SWC did likewise but did not fare as well in terms of gains, likely due to earnings release tommorow, some may be skeptical, but with SLW's great report today - i doubt anything will phase the rally...
POT/MOS- continue thier assault...both hitting new 52 week highs,again, I fully believe MOS will outperform POT, but POT is the king of fertilizers & rightfully so.Can not go wrong w/ either of them (AGU is also phenominal)
COIN...well what can be said there, a big speculation play, but, moving heavy today to the upside..the warrants on it have had insane returns as well..up today 11.5%
 
Im in PAL. Picked up 200 at 9.10. If it dips I buy more. That goes for SWC as well. Thank you sir.:)
 
Made $1200 today on POT, you cannot go wrong!!!!


Anyways, news on SWC:



UPDATE 1-Platinum miner Stillwater quarterly profit plunges

Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:27pm EST
(Updates with revenue, production figures, CEO comments)
NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Stillwater Mining Co (SWC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which produces platinum-group metals (PGM), said on Monday that fourth-quarter profit fell sharply because of lower mine production and rising costs.
But Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Francis McAllister said the company expected to benefit from surging PGM prices as well as reducing its hedge book of forward contracts.


Net earnings were $400,000, or less than one cent per share, compared with $2.8 million, or 3 cents per share in the same quarter of 2006, the Billings, Montana-based company said.

Revenue dropped to $148.7 million from $175.5 million.

Analysts on average were expecting a fourth-quarter loss of 4 cents per share, on revenue of $178 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Stillwater also reported a full-year 2007 loss of $14.3 million, or 15 cents per share, and attributed it to "low mine production, and to a lesser extent to rising costs per ounce of platinum-group metal production."

It said mine production of palladium and platinum for the year totaled 537,500 ounces, below the 600,600 ounces produced in 2006. Fourth-quarter production was 131,700 PGM ounces -- 91,400 ounces from the Stillwater Mine and 40,300 ounces from East Boulder Mine. For the comparable quarter of 2006, total production was 154,300 ounces.

"The nearly 15 percent decrease in total output between 2007 and 2006 resulted from lower manpower counts in 2007 at the Stillwater Mine, as well as unusually favorable active mining areas at Stillwater in the fourth quarter of 2006," the company said.

"The decrease at the East Boulder Mine primarily reflects the transitional challenges of changing from highly mechanized methods toward more selective mining."

Average mining productivity has dropped with the loss of experienced miners and mine performance is now more dependent on newly trained local miners, it said.

Sales from mine production totaled 126,200 ounces in the fourth quarter, at an overall average realization of $528 per ounce, compared with 164,800 ounces at $499 per ounce in the fourth quarter of 2006.

CEO McAllister noted the surge in PGM prices during 2007 and in early 2008 was a sign of fundamental supply shortage. The demand for platinum in automotive emission controls has grown at a compounded annual rate of about 13 percent for the past eight years.

"With our remaining platinum hedges rolling off during the first half 2008 and palladium prices that exceed our contractual floors, we should be in a position to benefit from these strong market prices -- at least to the extent the strong prices continue," McAllister said.

The platinum hedges reduced 2007 earnings by about $31.7 million, as about 98,000 ounces were locked in at prices in the $1,000 per-ounce range, as compared to an average market price for platinum last year of just over $1,300 per ounce, he said.

(Reporting by Steve James; Editing by Andre Grenon)
 
Great Post Kenya...& great holdings in POT, expect a bit of volatility soon, AGs have run heavy this month, 30-40% upwards, & they are prone for heavy shavings, then they resume an uptrend..

Offwork....hang tight & add tot hose 200, if you can pick up call options on any pullback in the stock, you could get a quick 20-50%.

One thing I will say is while some may look at SWC numbers as weak, they were expected to come in with a loss of .04 per share, instead they ended up w/ a slight profit of near .01 per share. Also, their release will cause several things to occur, 1. SWC will trade lower tommmorow, as some will see the release as negative, but It's important to realize their hedge position is what took a good chunk off thier earnings, having locked up prices for delivery, they lost out on gains in the metal. 2. PAL, well guess what-PAL does not hedge,so they sell at market prices, they will realize the increase fully in the metal rise, further reason one has to be in on this issue as the metals rise. PAL may also get a slight chop tommorow, only to recover. If you've kept up, it has fought off lows many days and closed green, I'd look for the same tommorow. Either way, the story really has not changed, South Africa still has energy issues, and platinum & palladium are still in deficits. Good luck to all of you..
 
Ok I have another question. What is the process for shorting a stock. I'm not sure if I'm ready to start doing it yet but I'm one of those people that likes to know as much as possible before i do it. I use Ameritrade so if you could tailor the explanation to that (if necessary) it would be appreciated.

PS. Got in on PAL at $7.77


:dance2::dance2:
 

One mighty strange day going on,,,AGs are down when the dow is up over 100 pts/ PAL/SWC down when PAlladium is at 540/oz.

Most strange are the Aggies,,,they should be heavy in green- one of those days..with two hours left will be interesting to see where PAL ends up..currently at 9.00, SWC managed to hit 19.50 and then it too pulled back...now 18.70...If a red day occurs, i'll take one like this anyday...
 
Blew the call today,,today was a bit troubling. Aside from IBM w/ it's big buyback news, most issues were falling back, maybe it was a good consolidation point for a few stocks we've mentioned here (POT/MOS/AGU/PAL/SWC)-all of which have had significant upward momentum for close to a month. Tommorow will be an important day, hopefully some green can be seen. PAL & SWC closing down on a day when Palladium was touching 540/oz, even stranger. Could be both gearing up for a major leg up. As said, the story is the same, & potential is still intact. Stick w/ what you have until it plays out .....PAL could easily see $25 this year, but i doubt it will go straight up...
 
Peace Investors. Cramer just talked about how great the ag sector is. Stocks me mentioned were Pot Mos Mon Agu Deere(sound familiar?) He says be ready to buy when the selloff happens because they will go higher.I wonder if Cramer is lurking? Any thoughts? I do not have a position in any off these.
 
Peace Investors. Cramer just talked about how great the ag sector is. Stocks me mentioned were Pot Mos Mon Agu Deere(sound familiar?) He says be ready to buy when the selloff happens because they will go higher.I wonder if Cramer is lurking? Any thoughts? I do not have a position in any off these.

AG sector it to me hands down either #1 or #2 in this current market, only rival is likely energy & energy is not growing as fas as AG..All those he mentioned are top picks, all will do even better, thing is i think the pull back happened in January, where they all hit new highs then sold off close to 30%, now they are back at new 52 week high levels..if Aggies are going on a run,,,COIN is going to have some monster returns...its very speculative, risky, but, I'm banking on a major run. It has to me one of my top things in a stock, a LOW O/S...4M Shares,,
 
Ok I have another question. What is the process for shorting a stock. I'm not sure if I'm ready to start doing it yet but I'm one of those people that likes to know as much as possible before i do it. I use Ameritrade so if you could tailor the explanation to that (if necessary) it would be appreciated.

PS. Got in on PAL at $7.77


:dance2::dance2:

Dark, in order to use short stocks, margin, or trade options w/ Ameritrade you have to fill out a form and get approved. I would suggest that in order to get approved, you "exaggerate" your experience level. If you get denied, you can't reapply for 90 days. Just know that they may check your credit as part of the approval process (they didn't give me a definite answer on that.)
 
What's on tap for today.......

Well,,,i have to think that PAL/SWC will be JUMPING a good amount today,overnight the asian/zurich markets took palladium up to 560/oz, platinum stood firm around 2150/oz. Yesterday, PAL had a pullback, why I have no clue, i think today it will recover what it lost and some additional...SWC will also be moving upwards...Lets see 10 on PAL..

www.apmex.com www.bulliondesk.com www.kitco.com

Ok so Cramer, opens his mouth & says like a serpent things about AGs,,so damn two sided he can be,,not a fan of the dude, by the way, just for record :) (don't know how he maintained a reputation after the '01 crash)...anyway, you can peep the video here on his two sided speak.. www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?play=1&video=665278814&__source=yahoo|headline|quote|video|&par=yahoo

Basically, he just shot Ags in the foot, boldly saying theyre going down today, but then stating they are good to be in...So ofcourse, traders already are pushing them down this am, he's high on MOS which makes me almost want to bail on MOS, but, i won't.....anyway, we'll see how it turns... PAL & SWC - good today, AGs- due to Krammer slight pullback,...:rolleyes::cool:
 
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