Written by Mark Bern, CPA CFA
This week I am coming off a period of writing hiatus for various reasons, one of which was that I was performing my semi-annual review process. That takes me 
almost two full weeks of data input because I haven’t taken the time to figure out how to download data from multiple sources into my spreadsheets, keeping only what I want and converting to averages where it is my preference to do so. So, I collect multiple data points each from five different sources and concentrate it all into a spreadsheet that is usable to me. The culmination of which will be a new series of articles highlighting those companies’ stocks that have survived the elimination process and ended up on my master list. I haven’t got to the final number yet but expect it to be near 100, give or take.The primary article I published this week is titled, “An Updated Enhanced Income Strategy for Intel.” It provides a brief review of my two previous Intel articles from this series and then graduated into a selection of a put option contract to sell in order to lock in an annual return of 11% over the next 21 months. This one is a little out of character for me so I went into some detail explaining why I selected the particular contract that I did. The two main reasons were collecting over 19% on my cash up front and having the potential to buy Intel stock at a cost basis of $24.15 a share. The rising dividend doesn’t hurt much either.
The other article published recently was about how I expect the 2012 Presidential election will affect my investment and yours. This is not a partisan diatribe. Rather, it is an effort to consider what affect the outcome of the elections (presidential and otherwise) will have on the stock market. Whether you agree or not, please consider leaving a comment with your expectations to share with the rest of us. I believe that there will be some opportunities and would enjoy trading a few ideas with readers.
Looking forward to the coming week as I plan to begin my “Master List” series with detailed analysis and explanations of why each company survived my rigorous test to get on the list. I hope you’ll join me and question my assessments. I always enjoy sharing and learning more from others about the companies I own or want to own. I believe the process makes us all better investors.
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