My MM Experience

I thought I would share my Mr. Market experience with the board. I'm not a very good stock picker, but was in the right place at the right time during the dot com days, and smart enough not to lose too much of it in the bust, so now I have some play money and my cap gains are tax-free for a long time. I know Ernie from high school, trust him, have been on his mailing list since way back, and always thought his model makes sense in a reasonable market. I avoid low volume stocks, and check out each recommendation for myself before investing, to make sure that I like the story, the company's operating fundamentals (profits) and the chart. I get out at 15% profit, and probably leave money on the table. Once I sell, I usually stop watching the stock. With two exceptions (AMHC and WSB), I haven't bailed. In both cases, bailing out was a mistake. Here's my statistics:

In the program 136 days
Average position size: $X (I'm a little shy, but if anybody cares let me know)
Taken 18 positions, which includes double-downs on COH and PRX
Closed 13, 11 for profit, 2 for loss: FBC, LEND,NFI,SSYS,FCFS,COH,AMHC,SFCC,ESI,GRMN,WRLD,WSB
Average days invested for each position: 30 for closed positions and 36 days for positions still open.
Average dollars invested at any given time for closed positions: 2.6X. For total: 4.07X Right now, 5.7X.
Total net profit on closed positions: .93X
Return on Investment for closed positions: 35.6% (in 136 days)
If I hadn't bailed out on AMHC, total net profit would be 1.22X and ROI would be 46%.
I got cute and picked two stocks from Ernie's old list that he was underwater on (WRLD and GRMN) and made 15% on them
My open positions are about break even (down 1.1%) - I doubled down on PRX when it fell: NARA,DKS,PRX,FINL
Total ROI including open positions is 21.2%

To sum up, Ernie has made me money. In an up market, he prints money. In a down market, his stocks weather the storm pretty well, and always bounce when things turn. I couldn't give a shit how long he holds his stocks, or what his statistics say - I think he's pretty funny, and wish that Bruce the Bozo would go analyze his own penis for a while, in private. If things continue to work as they have in the past 136 days, then after a year I'll have paid for my new kitchen. Thanks Ernie.

Go Red Sox. Gotta wonder about some of the pitching changes and pinch hitting calls. Jeez!

[stenzrob]

Well put by CraigMRO.

I'm still looking for the "Recommend this post" button.

[thebign1]

Hello Craig, Excellent story and I agree with you 110%. Ernie should remain Ernie. He's HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!!!! As I have said before, Ernie is truly sincere and he give's from the heart. Remember, there are two types of people in this world, "GIVERS & TAKERS."

Ernie is a GIVER, end of story.

Regards, Norm

[mrmarket]

Craig is the buyout king!

[Websman]

As I've always said....Mr Market rocks!