Friday, September 01, 2006

Today's Update and a KFC Bad Beat

Well, last night American Eagle Outfitters (AEOS) reported their August Same Store Sales figures, and they were spectacular. SSS was up a whopping 11%, which beat the aggressive analyst estimates of 9.1%. This morning, Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF) reported strong SSS numbers as well... they came in at 6%, which soundly beat the 2.4% estimates.

On this news, AEOS shot up nearly 4% and ANF managed a respectable 1.9% gain. Yesterday, I said that it probably makes sense to swap out part of AEOS for ANF. I stand by that statement in spite of the story these sales figures tell us. That said, look for me to make a swap some time tomorrow. At least I can be happy that I was able to capture a nice move today.

Other notable movers in the portfolio today...

Harrah's Entertainment (HET), which agreed to purchase London Clubs International. London Clubs owns a slew of casinos in the UK, and also a couple in Egypt and another in South Africa. Investors apparently liked the news. More often than not, the share price of a company that is doing the acquiring falls.

Student Loan (STU) tacked on 6.5%. However, this is an extremely thinly traded stock that is 80% owned by Citigroup. The move came on no readily available news, but I believe the company is fine for the long-term.

Form Factor (FORM) gave up some of the gains it picked up from the day before.

Altria Group (MO) lost exactly what it had gained the day before to close at the previous day's closing price.

Still on the watch list as potential buys... SHG, MCO, UVV, NUAN (very speculative), and CRFT. And, currently I'm undecided if I want to buy the final batch of Home Depot (HD). I had planned on buying a full position in three chunks, and so far we've got two of three filled. But, I've still got the slight bit of hesitation. Either way, the current position is not small by any means.

Okay, enough stock talk. Let's get onto what you've all been waiting for... the KFC bad beat. So, anyway I've become a real fan of the KFC Famous Bowls recently, especially the one with Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Several Varieties of Cheese, and of course, Chicken. I've gotten one of these about once each week for some time now. I get out of work a bit late tonight, and I drive up to the KFC near my place. It's gone... literally. Apprently, they are remodeling. That's what the sign said anyway And by remodeling, they meant demolishing the building and re-building. I don't know where the next closest KFC is, so I am out of luck for now. Talk about a bad beat.

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