SDTH is in

One of my small stocks, AVAV has a great day yesterday. I sold it, smartly. In one of the press reports another company was mentioned, SDTH. They are a chemicals producer and seem to really be into NPCC. I am not a chemicals expert, but it sounds like NPCC is a "filler" ie instead of using the good stuff to make rubber, you throw this filler stuff in instead. They also use the filler for latex, paper, and adhesives. Their second quarter revenues grew 58%. The NPCC part of the company made up 47% of thhe revenues. Capacity of creating NPCC will increase from 100k to 160k at the end of the year. It will top out at 190k with all current plans finished. Their year estimates for revenue is 98 M. They operate out of China and have just started to go global. Their sales force has double to 60 and the hope to add 5 customers in the next quarter. That is what I will be keeping my eye on. I started with a small position.

LNDC is back in

Landec anounced they are furthering their relationship with Chiquita. They also expect their current contract with agreement to outperform previous estimates. For these reasons I got back in with a small position.

Portfolio Change : SHFL is out

SHFL reported their earnings last week, and they sucked. The earnings sucked the quarter before that. They also sucked the quarter before that. I got sick of the stock and sold it.

I moved my money into ATVI. Everyone I talk to enjoys the game of Guitar Hero. My one friend who cannot stand to play videogames enjoys playing it.

I also opened a new position in WMS. I recently read about the move to upgrade casino floors to "server-supported gaming." The gist of it is that instead of having static machines on casino floors, they will instead be terminals that allow the user to select the denomination of the game and the specific theme (ie. Betty Boop or Wheel of Fortune). I am noticing the troubles that Atlantic City is starting to go through. They are getting beat up by local "racinos". Harrah's Chester beat Trump Marina and two other Atlantic Casinos. Atlantic City is going to have to come up with some new ideas if they don't want to lose out. One of the things I think they will do is upgrade their Casino floors. That is where WMS Industries comes in.

On another note, the smoking at Atlantic City is really annoying. I don't know how people stand it. My wife is pregnant and now my kid has been subjected to smoking/nicotine at the age of -3 months - that's right negative 3 months.

Squat Workout

Yesterday I had a really awesome workout. I started by doing some plyometrics in my back yard. After that I headed to the gym to do some squats. I started with some easy warmsups, then did 10x135. On the next set I stepped it up to 8x185 followed by 8x225. I then got inspired. I threw two 25 lb plates on the bar and ran off 5 sets of 275. That is my current max. I said To Hell with it! and went for 300. I squatted 300 lbs. twice. That is the most weight I have ever lifted in my life. That's like putting Mike Patterson on my back and squatting him.

Vacation Next Week

It's a big secret. The best time of the year to go to the Jersey Shore is the week after Labor Day. My wife and I and a couple of friends got ourselves a rental on 4632 Central Avenue in Ocean City for next week. It came out to 150 bucks per person for the week - there are 7 of us.

The reason it is such a good week is multifaceted - The prices on rentals drop, the crowds disperse, you can get lucky with the weather and the water is warm. Also watching opening week NFL football at the Shore is such a treat.