Some Big News

With less than two weeks to go until I am done with school forever,* there are a few things about my short-to-intermediate future that I am ready to announce here.

*I reserve the right to return to school at a later date, but only as an instructor or administrator.

First, as you may know from my previous posts on the subject, I am currently looking for a job in Salt Lake City. While I wish this was an announcement of me or Kim finding a full-time position which would hasten our departure from Illinois, it is sadly not the case. Despite my efforts to the contrary, I have been unable to locate a suitable position. Part of the reason it seems is that I live in Illinois and people don’t want to interview me and are instead focusing on local folks first. If that’s the case, then I guess I should just move my happy self to Utah already and get on with it…which is what will be happening. though not for a while.

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Portfolio X-Ray: Waste Management

Note: Read this introduction to see what I am doing in this series.

About Waste Management
Waste Management (NYSE: WM) is the nationwide leader in what its name says it does: waste management. But it is not all about hauling trash or managing landfills. As the company says in its most recent 10-Q:

“We are North America’s leading provider of comprehensive waste management environmental services. We partner with our residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers and the communities we serve to manage and reduce waste at each stage from collection to disposal, while recovering valuable resources and creating clean, renewable energy. Our “Solid Waste” business is operated and managed locally by our subsidiaries that focus on distinct geographic areas and provides collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. Through our subsidiaries, we are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States.” Continue reading “Portfolio X-Ray: Waste Management” →

Portfolio X-Ray: LinkedIn

As I mentioned in the preview, this will be the first post as I take a look deeper inside my portfolio. Based on allocation, LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD) is my current largest holding, partly because of its performance since purchased it, and partly because the stock price is so high. Though I try not to base my investment decisions on share price, it often factors into my decision making process if a stock is priced too high, it might be difficult to purchase when you are working with limited funds.

For example, companies like Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) or priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) currently have share prices close to $900. If you are working with a $10,000 portfolio, and purchase even one share of these companies, they would immediately make up 9% of the portfolio, which could impact the ability to diversify beyond that holding. So while the price of the individual shares shouldn’t dissuade from purchasing a stock, it should factor when building an overall portfolio. Besides, the high prices of these two stocks haven’t prevented strong performance from them, as folks with real money can afford to purchase them without problems.
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Portfolio X-Ray: A Preview

As part of an effort to write more in August, I have been trying to think of what I could fill some of the days on the calendar. While I haven’t been as proficient thus far this month, this should be the first of at least 12 posts in this series.

In the time since I stopped writing for The Motley Fool, I have actually missed writing about stocks and investing. So in an effort to keep an investor’s eye on the market, as well as give me something to write about, I will be spending the next few weeks examining my own portfolio holdings, taking a look at what led me to purchase the company, as well as any reasons why I might sell my holding in the near future. Continue reading “Portfolio X-Ray: A Preview” →