Week 38: Waiting on a move

Portfolio Performance

Portfolio Composition

Portfolio Trades

So first of all . . . .

I don’t know what happened with the AUM trade

I think there is a gliche with the RBC Practice Account because somehow I sold Golden Minerals (AUM) on Wednesday and ended up with a long AUM in Canadian dollars and a short AUM for the same amount of shares in US dollars on Thursday.  I am hoping the trade resolves itself (in my actual accounts this sort of matched trade in the wrong currency would automatically resolve) but if it doesn’t I will attempt to clean it up myself.  I wanted to point it out because my current portfolio composition looks a little odd as a result.

Buy more banks . . . .

I’m still buying financials and I am actively looking for more to buy.  I got a few more ideas from a new website that I have signed up to called stocktwits (its like twitter for stocks).  The names are: ORRF, FFNW, SNBC, and GBNK.  I haven’t done enough research on any of these names to make an assessment of them.

This week I added to both Shore Bancshares and to Rurban Financial.  I looked at both in more detail this weekend and I am happy with what I see.  I’ll try to put together a post on each shortly.  I’ve already seen a double in Community Bankers Trust, and I’m up 40% since my original purchase of Bank of Commerce Holdings but I have no plans to sell either.

This week I also noticed that one of the banks I held but sold, Xenith Bankshares, popped.  I may buy that one on weakness.  I’m also watching the newswire for anything on Atlantic Coast Financial.  ACFC has a brutal loan book and could very well kick the can at some point, but the stock also has a book value of over $19 (yes that is right, it is a $2 stock with a $19 book value) so it is imaginable that if the banks continue to be on fire the stock could move up rather substantially.

. . . .Less oil

I sold out of Arcan Resources this week.

Why did I sell? Three reasons.

1. The company ran into some operational problems (again) that cut back production for a time
2. Spring break up is upon us and while I’m not certain of the extent that Arcan is impacted I do know that the junior oil investment community tends to go on leave from April until June.
3. I want to put my money in the best opportunities and right now the best opportunity is in the regional and community banks and in the mortgage servicers.

Maybe I am selling at the bottom.  I’m sure there are a few that would scoff at me selling after a 20% drop.  Stupid retail.  So be it.  The banks are going up right now and Arcan is not.  So I would rather own the banks.

To give you a taste of just how impressive the bank performance has been, consider these charts:

A couple new positions

I also have initiated a couple of new positions that I consider myself “restricted” in talking about, at least for the time being.  The first is Cal-Maine Foods, which is a large egg producer.  If you want to get an idea of my reasons behind the purchase, take a look at my recent tweets ( I also signed up for Twitter this week).

A second position that I started was Golden Standard Ventures.  Golden Standard is drilling in Nevada and they may have hit gold in the way of a Carline style deposit.  A real spec here, but one that from what I hear has a reasonable chance of working.