BUY: GLBL (NASDAQ), DBRN (NASDAQ), ARRS (NASDAQ), ARP (NYSE), LCAV (NYSE)

All total transaction prices include a $15.00 commission.

• Purchased 140 shares of Global Industries Ltd (GLBL) at $23.61/share = $3,320.40.
• Purchased 209 shares of Dress Barn Inc (DBRN) at $15.85/share = $3,327,65.
• Purchased 275 shares of Arris Group Inc (ARRS) at $12.05/share = $3,328.75.
• Purchased 161 shares of American Reprograpics Co (ARP) at $20.61/share = $3,333.21.
• Purchased 118 shares of LCA Vision Inc (LCAV) at $27.88/share = $3,304.84.

Transaction summary:

• Total transaction costs: $16,614.85
• Final bank account: $14.73

Portfolio:

• UIC: 49
• CONN: 105
• HGT: 102
• WIRE: 117
• IPS: 27
• SHOO: 81
• IIIN: 138
• LMS: 82
• KSWS: 70
• WON: 338
• TTES: 175
• ALDA: 172
• EGY : 502
• OPMR: 314
• USMO: 135
• GW: 400
• TCK: 77
• RAIL: 68
• ASPV: 180
• AVR: 230
• MEOH: 136
• NUE: 55
• HOG: 49
• ESV: 50
• AEO: 123
• GLBL: 140
• DBRN : 209
• ARRS : 275
• ARP: 161
• LCAV: 118

Total "account value" including cash is $88,803.12, a slight uptick from two months ago when it sat at $84,098 but still far cry from the optimism of $97,247.88). Some of the increase is due to market (over) optimism created by the Fed's egregious 50 basis point in the overnight rate. There is another FOMC meeting on Tuesday but, whatever they do, things don't look too good for the US economy in 2008.

No prognostication this time. I will try in the December posting to put the total performance to date in context with major indices &c. However, one thing I really want to do is take a simplified approach to selection for the next 3 periods: just pick 5 at random from the top 25; total picking time: 5 minutes. I'd like to see how my screening attempts bias the results.

SELL: INTX, ASEI, CECS, CRYP, DLX

Sold Intersections, Inc. on the 22^nd to bank the short-term capital loss. Sold INTX, ASEI, CECS, CRYP, DLX on the 24^th in order to be in long-term capital gain territory. All aggregate prices include the $15.00 broker’s transaction fee.

• 265 INTX x $8.43 = $2,218.95. Short-term capital loss: $265.85 = -10.7%
• 113 CECS x $33.63 = $3,785.19. Long-term capital gain: $1,311.31 = 53.0%
• 148 CRYP x $20.10 = $2,959.80. Long-term capital gain: $485.04 = 19.6%
• 49 ASEI x $60.03 = $2,926.47. Long-term capital gain: $490.38 = 20.13%
• 112 DLX x $39.84 = $4,447.08. Long-term capital gain: $1,961.36 = 78.9%
• INTX’s total annual dividends paid out: $53.00 = 2.1%; total loss then is -8.6%
• CRYP's total annual dividends paid out: $71.04 = 2.9%; actual gain is then 22.5%
• DLX's total annual dividends paid out: $112.00 = 4.5%; actual gain is then 83.4%

Totals:

• Net short-term capital gain (loss): ($265.85)
• Net long-term capital gain (loss): $4,248.09
• Net proceeds for this group: $3,982.24
• Cost basis: $12,355.25
• Net return for this group: 32.23%

Finally, numbers to keep around:

• Bank account: $16,629.58
• Accumulated short-term capital gain (loss) so far: ($3,033.40)
• Accumulated long-term capital gain (loss) so far: $14,283.33
• Total realized capital gain (loss): $11,249.93
• Total dividends paid out: $721.13
• Total realized gain (loss): $11,971.06
• Total cost of stocks sold: $50,315.44
• Total realized return: 23.79%