The rest of my cash

I spent my remaining cash on shares of MGM Mirage two weeks ago. I bought in at $10.99.

My fiscal year runs October 1st to September 30th, because I bought my first shares on October 1st of 2008. My first year's returns were 27.7%. It'll be tricky to calculate my returns for Q4 2009 because I added funds to my portfolio in October. I have to figure out how I want to handle the accounting for that...

Reading material

I picked up Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements by Mary Buffett & David Clark, as well as Security Analysis by Ben Graham and David Dodd. I got through Warren Buffett's ex-daughter-in-law's book pretty fast and now I'm poring over financial statements. Definitely out: Starbucks, Nexxus Lighting, Citrix Systems, Echelon Corp, Itron Inc, and Ambient Corp. Still looking at VMware, Microsoft, AgFeed, Google, Apple, EMC, Cisco, Qualcomm, and 3Com. I think I'm happy with my positions in AgFeed and VMware, but I don't really know. I can't read the financials well enough yet.

Obviously, my portfolio took a big dive after the past few days. The Dow was down 250 points on Friday if you missed it. I'm really excited about the opportunity to spend the rest of my cash.

VMWare

Bought 16 shares of VMWare. Thought I needed a tech. What started with Indian BPOs ended with this company, which makes virtualization software. I'm sitting on $1450 in cash now, but I really want to plow it into AgFeed.

$2,100 in cash

I moved some more money into my brokerage account and now I'm researching new buys. I think I need a tech and something less speculative. However, I've been looking at Indian ADRs all weekend. ICICI bank seems like a safe play, but where's the money at? Patni, Satyam?

Versus my benchmark

My returns in 2008 were -9.5%, versus a drop in the Dow of -19.12% over the same period (Oct. 1 to Dec. 31). My YTD 2009 return is 45.91%, versus 12% for the Dow Jones.

I'm an anti-genius

I thought that a 45.91% return for 2009 was pretty good until I calculated what my original portfolio (of Ford, Tata Motors, US Steel, MGM Mirage, Bank of America, and Freddie Mac) would have been worth today. If I hadn't sold or bought anything after November 11th of last year, my portfolio would be up 86.63%. Even more than that actually, because I've spent somewhere between $150 and $200 in broker fees.

Ugh.

Tire Tariff

Obama has approved a 35% tariff on some imported Chinese tires for the next year. It'll fall to 30% in 2011 and to 25% in 2012. I think the tariff isn't a sop to unions either. It's the right move because China's neomercantilist policies are destroying manufacturing in the US. Until China allows for a level playing field, it's the administration's job to punish. However, I acknowledge that all nations do what China is doing. If the US believed in a level playing field, it wouldn't have bailed out GM, Chrysler, AIG, and whoever else. Or subsidize farming to the extent it does. If China pours cheap loans and favorable tax benefits on certain industries, it's the same thing and both are unfair. I won't be surprised when China adopts counter-measures. And they'll be justified in doing so.

Ugh. I don't want to see the stock market on Monday.