Archive for July, 2008

Canadian Auto Sales for June 2008

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

Overall Canadian vehicle sales for June 08 declined 5.7 percent to 159,500 vehicles as compared to June 07  (there was a 0.5 percent drop in May 08)

GM down 23.8 percent as compared with June 07, trucks down 35.3%, cars down 11.5%

GM Trucks volume: 14,243 Cars: 18,122

Ford   sold 22,001 vehicles in June 08, a decline of 13.7 percent from 25,485 a year earlier. Truck sales decreased 17.7 percent, while car sales fell 2.9 percent.

Honda and Acura total of 16,518 vehicles, down 2% from June 07

BMW up 6.3% 2,943 vehicles, Mini 621 vehicles (50% up) 

Portfolio Update

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

June was a busy month for me and for the financial markets. I have added to my holdings:

BBT - low price, high dividend, solid balance sheet - what’s not to like?

WM - this is more of a speculative purchase, TPG paid $8.75 a share a few months back. So I figured $6.59 is not too bad 

BAC - I added some shares of BAC at current price the dividend works out to 10%

As you can tell i am liking financials right now. They may decline for a few months even through 2009, but when the rebound comes they are going to shoot up. Meanwhile BAC and BBT pay good dividends. I am eyeing 2 more banks: BHBC and ABCW.  ABCW seems like a solid buy with a 9% dividend. BHBC is more of a speculative buy.

I am also load up on some F shares, I think at $4.50 it is a steal. Keep in mind Kerkorian paid $8.50 for 20 million shares and around $7 for 100 million shares. He must know something.

Both the DOW and NASDAQ officially entered the BEAR territory. FOr most is a sell signal, for me it is buying time. I am going to space out my purchases at least 2 weeks apart as no-one knows how long or how deep the current slump will go. If you have extra money but the DOW index, long term it is an awesome investment.

Here are my current holdings:

Stock Date Purchased Price paid Price as of Today
WM 9-Jun-08 6.59 5.31
BBT 18-Jun-08 25.01 23.66
ETFC multiple 3.57 3.23
BAC multiple 32.36 22.54
BLDP 23-Jan-08 4.20 4.03
IRBT 15-Apr-08 17.00 13.35
SIRI 16-May-07 2.70 1.91
AMD 12-Feb-07 14.50 5.44
NT 6-Jun-06 22.20 7.46
F 11-Apr-06 7.35 4.36
REV multiple 1.12 0.80
FOGC.PK multiple 0.07 0.01
BPLT.PK multiple 0.07 0.01