It has been several months since I have given an update on the best performing stocks in the Own Every Stock Portfolio.  Currently, there are 4 stocks that have returned more than 100%.  Of the top 10 best stock returns in the portfolio, six are from foreign countries.  However, interestingly enough, only 1 other foreign stock is in the top 25 stock returns.  Many of the stocks on this list, especially the top performing stocks, continue to add to there impressive gains, while a few new stocks have replaced some of the short lived investment gains. 

Overall, the portfolio is pretty much a wash, with 82 stocks posting positive returns while the other 79 stocks are in negative territory.  Based on today's closing prices, the Own Every Stock Portfolio is valued at $12,373.64.  This represents a paltry 0.18% return since starting this project.  Here is a look at the best 25 stock returns in the portfolio as of 8-17-2010: 

Stock	Symbol	Initial Purchase	Overall Return
Crane Company	CR	11-05-2008	122.52%
Computer Programs & Systems, Inc	CPSI	1-31-2008	117.43%
Biovail Corporation	BVF	3-17-2008	114.86%
LAN Airlines	LFL	2-28-2008	111.69%
Bancolumbia S.A.	CIB	7-15-2009	94.97%
CPFL Enenergia S.A.	CPL	1-03-2008	60.80%
Tomkins	TKS	1-31-2008	60.59%
Patterson UTI-Energy, Inc.	PTEN	12-01-2008	55.72%
Tata Motors	TTM	4-16-2008	52.14%
Pepco Holdings, Inc.	POM	7-08-2009	48.31%
Bristol Myers Squibb Company	BMY	3-17-2008	48.10%
B & G Foods	BGS	5-21-2008	47.79%
CNOOC Ltd.	CEO	7-09-2009	47.16%
McDonald's Corporation	MCD	9-19-2007	44.79%
Deluxe Corporation	DLX	9-16-2008	41.06%
Mattel, Inc.	MAT	7-16-2008	38.67%
Altria Group, Inc.	MO	9-19-2007	35.97%
Vector Group, Inc.	VGR	8-18-2008	34.04%
Consolidated Edison, Inc.	ED	7-20-2009	33.21%
Cognex Corporation	CGNX	10-21-2008	31.88%
Marathon Oil Corporation	MRO	12-30-2008	31.21%
Sara Lee Corporation	SLE	7-16-2008	26.19%
Centurytel, Inc.	CTL	7-01-2009	26.02%
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.	CALM	6-22-2009	25.60%
Progress Energy, Inc.	PGN	6-22-2009	25.23%

The Own Every Stock Portfolio now has 161 different stocks.  Based on closing prices from August 6th, the total value of the portfolio is $12,658.16.  Of the 161 stocks within the portfolio, 90 of them have posted a positive gain since being added to the portfolio while 71 have posted a loss.  The total return of the Own Every Stock Portfolio since starting this project is 2.45%.  While this is definitely nothing to get excited about, it is at least a positive number.   After all, the stock market hasn't exactly had a stellar record over the past several years.  Here is an alphabetized list of the all the stocks currently being held in the Own Every Stock Portfolio as well as the total return (includes all dividends, spinoffs, etc.) of each respective stock.

Stock	Symbol	# of Shares	Overall Return
3M Company	MMM	1.063	9.90%
Abbott Laboratories	ABT	2.048	17.74%
Aircastle, Ltd	AYR	3.403	-46.78%
Alcoa, Inc.	AA	2.128	-67.87%
Altria Group, Inc.	MO	1.160	33.86%
Ameren Corporation	AEE	2.232	-20.29%
American Ecology Corporation	ECOL	5.226	-16.74%
American Express Company	AXP	1.044	-22.16%
American Software, Inc.	AMSWA	16.247	-11.96%
Amkor Technology	AMKR	6.000	-47.60%
Annaly Capital Management, Inc.	NLY	6.471	8.47%
Aqua America, Inc.	WTR	5.319	24.42%
AT&T	T	1.135	-26.20%
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.	ADP	2.065	22.04%
B & G Foods, Inc.	BGS	10.000	49.87%
Banco Latinoamericano de Comerico	BLX	6.271	-13.08%
Banco Santander SA	STD	4.504	-29.27%
Bancolumbia S.A.	CIB	3.079	91.37%
Bank of America Corporation	BAC	2.094	-62.25%
Barclays PLC	BCS	3.136	-28.85%
BB&T Corporation	BBT	2.176	-18.42%
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. Class B	BRK.B	1.000	5.73%
BHP Billiton	BHP	1.011	11.06%
Biovail Corporation	BVF	5.606	113.66%
Boeing Company	BA	1.070	-20.24%
Boyd GamingCorporation	BYD	6.000	-46.43%
Briggs & Stratton Corporation	BGG	4.292	22.62%
Bristol Myers Squibb Company	BMY	3.352	46.89%
BT Group, plc	BT	2.294	-32.86%
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.	CALM	3.074	25.94%
Caterpillar, Inc.	CAT	1.080	14.83%
Cato Corporation	CATO	4.097	15.81%
CBS Corporation	CBS	5.453	-5.30%
Cellcom Israel Ltd.	CEL	3.197	-0.66%
Cemex S.A.B de C.V.	CX	3.000	-56.92%
Centerpoint Energy, Inc.	CNP	5.585	18.15%
Centurytel, Inc.	CTL	4.343	26.65%
Cherokee, Inc.	CHKE	2.452	-27.95%
Chevron Corporation	CVX	1.077	4.08%
Cincinnati Financial Corporation	CINF	3.128	12.49%
Cisco Systems, Inc.	CSCO	4.000	30.46%
Citigroup, Inc.	C	1.050	-88.34%
CNOOC Ltd.	CEO	1.030	51.32%
Coca-Cola Company	KO	1.066	8.90%
Cognex Corporation	CGNX	5.197	37.96%
Comerica, Inc.	CMA	2.097	11.99%
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional	SID	4.455	-7.58%
Computer Programs & Systems, Inc.	CPSI	3.270	131.57%
Consolidated Edison, Inc.	ED	2.112	33.74%
Corporate Executive Board Company	EXBD	2.147	17.65%
CPFL Energia S.A.	CPL	1.172	53.01%
Crane Company	CR	4.259	125.43%
CRH, plc.	CRH	4.100	-4.17%
Deere & Company	DE	1.050	-0.69%
Deluxe Corporation	DLX	5.717	56.44%
Diageo	DEO	1.081	-8.66%
Diana Shipping	DSX	2.247	-47.56%
Dover Corporation	DOV	1.000	3.47%
Dow Chemical Company	DOW	2.183	-20.93%
DTE Energy Company	DTE	1.122	10.21%
Duetsche Bank AG	DB	1.019	-25.70%
DuPunt de Nemours and Company	DD	1.116	-3.43%
Eastman Kodak Company	EK	20.000	-8.69%
Eaton Corporation	ETN	1.080	-7.69%
Eli Lilly & Company	LLY	3.128	12.41%
Emerson Electric Company	EMR	3.000	11.73%
ENI SpA	E	2.095	-1.89%
Entergy Corporation	ETR	1.079	-16.05%
Exxon Mobil Corporation	XOM	1.047	-28.07%
Fifth Third Bancorp	FITB	8.000	6.28%
France Telecom ADS	FTE	3.116	-14.61%
Fushi Copperweld, Inc.	FSIN	5.000	-21.33%
General Electric	GE	3.105	-28.23%
General Motors Corporation	MTLQQ	2.000	-96.42%
Genuine Parts Company	GPC	3.060	16.68%
Gold Fields, Ltd.	GFI	5.173	1.51%
Great Plains Energy, Inc.	GXP	3.354	-22.18%
Hasbro, Inc.	HAS	1.000	6.80%
Hewlett-Packard Company	HPQ	1.016	-15.91%
HJ Heinz Company	HNZ	2.177	12.26%
Holly Corporation	HOC	2.012	9.51%
Home Depot	HD	2.138	-1.00%
Honda Motor Company	HMC	3.094	20.75%
Honeywell International, Inc.	HON	1.070	-19.72%
ING Groep, NV	ING	2.058	-67.85%
Integrys Energy Group, Inc.	TEG	1.153	11.49%
Intel Corporation	INTC	2.133	-14.34%
International Business Machines	IBM	1.040	18.83%
Jabil Circuit, Inc.	JBL	4.000	2.47%
Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	3.151	20.05%
JP Morgan Chase & Company	JPM	1.031	-3.07%
Kimberly Clark Corporation	KMB	1.089	14.37%
Kraft Foods, Inc.	KFT	2.173	3.76%
LAN Airlines	LFL	5.274	85.69%
Leggett & Platt, Inc.	LEG	5.255	24.41%
Life Partner Holdings, Inc.	LPHI	5.178	2.57%
Lloyds TSB Group	LYG	3.686	-68.76%
Magyar Telekom Telecommunications	MTA	3.761	-8.13%
Marathon Oil Corporation	MRO	3.151	38.29%
Marriott International	MAR	2.035	-1.91%
Masco Corporation	MAS	4.344	-33.05%
Mattell, Inc.	MAT	5.443	37.79%
McDonald's Corporation	MCD	1.069	41.95%
Merck & Company, Inc.	MRK	1.099	-23.36%
Meridian Biosciences, Inc.	VIVO	5.050	1.31%
Microchip Technology, Inc.	MCHP	2.214	5.11%
Microsoft Corporation	MSFT	4.087	-13.18%
Mine Safety Appliance Company	MSA	4.077	9.13%
Mobile TeleSystems	MBT	5.000	5.35%
Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.	NWL	4.267	-3.04%
Nokia Corporation	NOK	6.240	-34.13%
Olin Corporation	OLN	2.000	1.36%
Packaging Corporation of America	PKG	3.263	7.64%
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.	PTEN	8.305	70.17%
Paychex, Inc.	PAYX	2.181	-12.59%
Pepco Holdings, Inc.	POM	7.473	42.86%
Pepsico, Inc.	PEP	1.061	-7.98%
Pfizer, Inc.	PFE	2.241	-23.34%
Phillip Morris International	PM	1.104	22.17%
Phillippine Long Distance Telephone Co.	PHI	2.079	11.23%
Pitney Bowes, Inc.	PBI	4.256	0.34%
Polaris Industries, Inc.	PII	2.014	22.87%
Polycom, Inc.	PLCM	4.000	1.25%
Procter & Gamble Company	PG	1.060	-7.97%
Progress Energy, Inc.	PGN	2.160	22.93%
Prospect Capital Corporation	PSEC	8.360	-12.81%
Prudential Financial, Inc.	PRU	1.034	-20.64%
Qualcomm, Inc.	QCOM	2.066	-1.34%
Regions Financial Corporation	RF	9.000	0.14%
Reynolds American, Inc.	RAI	1.164	-0.29%
Sara Lee Corporation	SLE	6.481	25.43%
Sasol, Ltd.	SSL	2.164	-6.22%
Southern Copper Corporation	SCCO	3.319	25.78%
Sovran Self Storage, Inc.	SSS	2.305	-0.99%
Sun Life Financial, Inc.	SLF	3.032	-9.54%
Sysco Corporation	SYY	3.232	9.71%
TAL International Group, Inc.	TAL	3.184	20.14%
Target Corporation	TGT	2.000	0.19%
Tata Motors, Inc.	TTM	5.043	33.29%
Tele Norte Leste Participacoes S.A.	TNE	5.532	-19.39%
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand	NZT	4.743	-43.35%
Telecomunicacoes De Sao Paulo	TSP	3.555	14.66%
Textron, Inc.	TXT	4.105	27.71%
Travelers Companies, Inc.	TRV	2.052	22.31%
Tomkins	TKS	5.521	66.73%
Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri	TKC	5.231	-6.85%
United Technologies Corporation	UTX	1.056	4.37%
Vector Group, Inc.	VGR	4.928	33.52%
Verizon Communications	VZ	1.131	-12.85%
Walmart Stores, Inc.	WMT	1.041	21.20%
Walt Disney Company	DIS	2.056	3.24%
Waste Management, Inc.	WM	2.155	7.41%
Wells Fargo & Company	WFC	3.194	14.87%
Weyerhaeuser Company	WY	1.051	-73.44%
Whole Foods Market, Inc.	WFMI	2.000	11.08%
Windstream Corporation	WIN	7.372	13.08%
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.	WWE	4.926	1.69%
Worthington Industries, Inc.	WOR	5.405	-16.29%
WSP Holdings Ltd.	WH	16.050	-77.41%
Xcel Energy, Inc.	XEL	3.312	20.71%
Xilinx, Inc.	XLNX	3.168	25.16%

As I mentioned in my last post, I purchased a call option on Hasbro, Inc. (HAS) before their earnings release on Monday morning.  Even though they posted a big beat on the bottom line, surpassing expectations by $0.05 per share, revenue fell short causing Hasbro shares to drop at the open yesterday.  However, the shares rallied to post a very modest loss of $0.15 for the day.  Therefore, I held the option another day expecting a bounce today.  The stock did bounce and I was able to acquire a "free share" of Hasbro, but again, I left some money on the table.  However, I am not going to complain about taking a profit.

Hasbro, Inc. (HAS) has been consistently beating earnings estimates by a significant margin over the last several quarters.  Therefore, I believe with a forward PE ratio of around 13, Hasbro is priced on the lower end of its fair value, especially when you factor in the likelihood of earnings projections going up with continued beats.  Like many companies that are hoarding cash these days, Hasbro is sitting on close to 1.3 billion dollars.  In addition, the company is also paying a respectable dividend of $1.00 per share yielding around 2.5%.  I like Hasbro moving forward, but please do your own due diligence on any investment because you never know when someone is trying to sell you a bunch of toys and games.

Before the close today I purchase a put option on Cintas Corporation ahead of their earnings release after the bell.  While they beat expectations on the top and bottom line, their forward guidance of $1.50 to $1.58 per share is less than analyst's expectations of $1.60 per share for 2011.  With the mixed results I am not sure what to expect tomorrow, but I doubt that investors will like the lowered guidance for 2011.  Well, I guess we will all know the answers regarding Cintas Corporation's earnings release in a few hours.

As of today, the Own Every Stock Portfolio has 158 different stocks worth a total of $11,870.61 based on today's closing prices.  In the next few days, I will provide a current list of all the holdings and the number of shares of all the stocks within the Own Every Stock Portfolio.    Thanks for visiting the Own Every Stock Blog.

Today, I added 4 shares of Polycom, Inc. (PLCM) to the Own Every Stock Portfolio.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I purchased a put option on the stock before they released earnings and was able to net a nice profit.  Unfortunately, I cashed out the option early in the morning as the stock was starting to run back up a little bit.  As a result, I left some potential profit on the table as PLCM slid more throughout the day.  However, I can't complain about a gain of over 30% in a day.  I used the majority of the proceeds from the option trade to purchase shares of Polycom, Inc.

Even though Polycom beat earnings expectations, PCLM shares slid on the decreased revenue in the video communications sector of their business.  Some analysts believe this in an indication of a slowdown in future growth of the company.  I honestly don't know enough about Polycom to say whether this is the case or not.  However, I have reviewed some statistical data on PLCM and it does have a lot of positive attributes.  For one, Polycom is debt free and sitting on nearly $500 million in cash, which currently amounts to around $5 per share.  Polycom will have to grow its earnings to justify a higher stock price from its current levels.  If you put credence into analyst expectations, Polycom's forward PE ratio is around 15.  These expectations may be rather lofty as it assumes a 30% increase in earnings from this year to next year.  While it may have a hard time growing earnings at that pace, PLCM shouldn't have a difficult time continuing to grow its cash holdings, which could be used to implement a dividend policy or fund acquisitions in the future.  Contrary to most of the other stocks in the Own Every Stock Portfolio, Polycom, Inc. currently does not pay a dividend.

As a side note, today I picked up a call option on Hasbro ahead of its earnings release Monday morning.  Today, one its primary competitors, Mattel, missed its earnings expectations and expressed some concerns about obtaining enough supplies to keep up with the back to school season.  As a result, Mattel dropped nearly 10% today and Hasbro was drug down around 4%.  I figured a lot of bad news is already "baked" into the stock so any positive data or less bad data could be a catalyst for a quick bounce.  I also went through the earnings releases and corresponding stock movements of Mattel and Hasbro over the last 3 years and there wasn't a correlation between how Mattel did versus how Hasbro did.  If fact, many times, the stocks moved in opposite directions after their respective earnings releases.  This could be due to the fact the market prices in a good or bad release from the first company to report and reacts in opposite fashion when the latter company to release earnings reports something different than the market now expects and has priced in.  Regardless, I will know whether it was a good decision or not on Monday morning.  Thanks for stopping by, hope you can make it back again soon.

Well, it has been quite a while since I have updated my blog (over 2 months, where has the time gone).  I have had several new responsibilities at my "real job" and most of my free time has been spent with my family and on my option trading.  However, I have added a few new stocks to the portfolio over the last couple months.  Recently I have been adding shares of stocks that I have made money on through my option trading.  Essentially the most recent shares I have added to the portfolio are free to me.  Let me explain further, as part of my option trading strategy I recently allocated a little money for the sole purpose of acquiring shares of stock for the Own Every Stock Portfolio.

Most of these trades are small option trades ($250 to $500) in which I try and scalp off $50 to $100 profit to buy shares in the underlying stock of the option I am trading.  Because I am only using profits to buy the new shares, essential I am adding the shares to the portfolio at no cost to me.  I know this isn't exactly accurate, but this is the "mental game" I am playing.  Besides, it adds a little more of a challenge for me to have to gain a profit on an option before adding shares to the Own Every Stock Portfolio.  Tomorrow, I will be adding shares of Polycom, Inc. (PLCM) to the portfolio.  Today, I purchased an August put option with a strike price of 35 on PLCM for $400.00 plus $5.60 commission fairly early in the day while the stock was trading around $31.20.  The stock rallied to close the day at $32.01 but then reported earnings after the bell.  While the earnings were pretty decent, Polycom's shares were down $3.19 in after hours trading to $28.82.  Assuming the shares open tomorrow at a similar price, my PLCM option will be worth well over $600.00, netting me a profit of over $200.00.  I will use these proceeds to buy shares in PLCM.  In addition to option trading, I will sometimes trade the actual stock (for the purpose of obtaining "free shares").  I will trade the stock rather than the option when the option's market on a particular stock is not liquid enough resulting in very wide bid ask spreads .

Here are the other stocks I have added to the portfolio through successful trades over the past month:  2 shares of Holly Corporation (HOC), 5 shares of Fushi Copperweld, Inc. (FSIN), 4 shares of Jabil Circuit, Inc. (JBL), 2 shares of Target Corporation (TGT), 3 shares of Emerson Electric Company (EMR), and 8 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp-FITB.  Based on the closing prices of stocks in the portfolio today, the Own Every Stock Portfolio's current value is $11,835.22.  Thanks for stopping by, I apologize for the long gap in between entries, but I hope to provide many more entries over the next several weeks.

Yesterday, after the market close, B&G Foods (BGS) surprised analysts by $0.02 per share when they posted earnings of $0.22 per share for the quarter (excluding one time charges).  Today, the stock responded by gaining 3.4% to close the day at $10.30.  Since B&G Foods became a public company in October of 2004 it has strung together 5 consecutive years of net sales growth through 2009.  Based on the results of the first quarter, 2010 is likely to become the sixth straight year of increasing net sales.

B&G basically buys brands from other food companies and distributes the products for sales in various stores.  Some of B&G’s most famous trademarked brands it has rights to include:  Ortega, Cream of Wheat, Grandma’s molasses, and B&M baked bean products.  Historically, the food product industry has been a very stable, slow and steady growth industry.  Of course, B&G Foods has the opportunity to grow its sales by purchasing more brands to add to its portfolio.

Even with slow and steady growth likely for B&G, a dividend yield of 6.7% should attract the attention of many investors.  Currently, B&G Foods has a quarterly dividend payment of $0.17 per share for an annualized dividend of $0.68.  While the number itself doesn’t sound like much, it is a nice dividend for a stock trading at around $10 per share.

Normally, I am not a big fan of having to issue more stock, but B&G Foods was able to reduce its long term debt load as well as restructure a major portion of its remaining debt through the issuance of 11.5 million new shares.  It is always a difficult decision for a company to decide when to issue stock and reduce debt.  Company debt is a cost in the form of interest, but issuing stock dilutes current shareholders and potentially costs shareholders more money if the shares are issued at a time when the company’s shares are trading at a low price.

For the time being, both old and new shareholders are happy with the stock trading very close to its 52 week high.  For me, I am not expecting to see any spectacular growth from B&G Foods, but I do expect to be pleased with some slow and steady growth as well as the 6.7% dividend yield.  However, don’t eat and drink up solely what I dish out, fill yourself up on some financial analysis of your own.

Mine Safety Appliances Company has done very well since being added to the Own Every Stock portfolio on February 5, 2010.  I was fortunate to have purchased the shares in MSA stock at 22.93, close to its 52 week low.  After being added to the portfolio, MSA has steadily marched upward earning an outstanding 32.7% total return based on today’s closing price of 30.15.  After reviewing its annual report, I am optimistic about the future of Mine Safety Appliances Company as well.

Surprisingly to me, I am one of only 477 people to own MSA stock according to its 2009 annual report.  Like many companies in 2009, Mine Safety’s net sales decreased from 1.13 billion dollars in 2008 to 990 million dollars last year.  However, even with the lower revenue, a record $121 million in cash flow from operations was generated through strategic cost cuts.  The $121 million in 2009 compares to the $59.8 million and $41.3 million in cash flow generated during the prior two years.  The increased cash flow helped improved the company’s cash holding 11 million dollars to $62 million at year end.  At the same time, long term debt was reduced from $94 million to $82 million from 2008 to 2009.

Mine Safety Appliances has a diverse presence around the world with 58% of its net sales coming from outside the United States.  The company also has a well balanced product mix with its five main product categories (head protection, gas detection instruments, supplied-air respirators, air-purifying respirators, and fall protection) all contributing between 14 to 24% of total sales.

With the growing emphasis on safety and corresponding tightening governmental regulations around the world, I expect Mine Safety Appliances Company to produce solid growth in the upcoming years.  Throw in a solid dividend yield of over 3% and I believe you have a stock worth owning.  However, for your own safety, conduct your own due diligence on the stock.  Thanks for stopping by, hope you can make it back again soon.

Based on today’s closing prices, the Own Every Stock Portfolio has a current value of $12,187.93, for a total return of 6.20% since starting the project.

Unlike my last stock review, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) has a lot of positive attributes that point to a bright future for the company and its stock.  Abbott is a diversified health care company that employees around 83,000 people.  In the pharmaceuticals market, it has several strong revenue producing products as well as several other products developing well in its pipeline.  A few non-prescription brand names of Abbott Laboratories you may be familiar with are Similac (the baby formula) and Ensure (the adult nutrition supplement).  Another strong area for Abbott is vision care; both LASIK surgery and many cataract surgeries are developments of Abbott's technologies.

Now that you have a little background on the company, I will talk about some of its financial highlights.  One of the best signs of steady growth is an increasing dividend and Abbott Laboratories has raised its dividend for 38 consecutive years.  Its most recent dividend increase raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.44 per quarter (a 10% increase).  Based on its annualized dividend of $1.76 per share, ABT is current yielding around 3.5%.

Abbott Laboratories is a very well diversified company around the world.  In fact, more of its net sales come from international markets than come from the U.S. market.  Last year, 16.6 billion dollars in net sales were international while 14.2 billion dollars were from the United States.  Even with the economic problems throughout the world, Abbott was able to increase its net sales by $1.2 billion from 2008 to 2009, an increase of 4% to $30.8 billion.

The strong sales results in a poor economy allowed Abbott’s cash position to more than double from 2008 to 2009.  At the end of 2009, the company was holding around 8.8 billion dollars in cash.  Look for ABT to continue to use this cash for strategic acquisitions to further grow its future sales.  However, along with its cash increase, Abbott’s long term debt also grew from $8.7 billion to $11.2 billion from 2008 to 2009.  Unless its debt grows substantially, I wouldn’t be too concerned about its debt at these levels.  Abbott Laboratories still produces a very good cash flow and has a strong overall cash position.

The Own Every Stock portfolio added Abbott Laboratories to its holdings on August 13, 2009.  Since that time, ABT has earned a total return of 20.6% based on the closing price on Friday.  I expect the future to continue to bring strong results for Abbott Laboratories and its stock. However, keep in mind that unlike LASIK patients, my vision can be blurry, so it can’t hurt to review things with your own eyes.

Masco Corporation (MAS) was added to the Own Every Stock Portfolio on May 28, 2008.  Currently, the stock has earned a total return of 2.57% since being added to the portfolio.  However, I feel very lucky to be in positive territory on Masco's stock after reviewing its latest annual report.  While I can manage to find a couple positive signs, the overall trend of the company has been unsettling, to say the least.

Probably the biggest factor in Masco Corporation’s recent problems has been a direct result of the collapse of the housing market.  Masco is a large producer of household products such as faucets, cabinets, windows, decorative products and other miscellaneous building products.  Masco’s ability to generate revenue is closely tied to the home improvement stores.  In fact, 26% of Masco’s net sales were from Home Depot in 2009.  As a result of the heavy correlation with the home improvement industry, Masco’s net sales have fallen each of the last 3 years, from a high of $12.4 billion in 2006 to $7.8 billion in 2009.

With a 37% decline in sales over 3 years, it is not a big surprise that the company also had to cut its dividend.  In 2008, when MAS was added to the portfolio, the annualized dividend was $0.94 per share.  In 2009, the quarterly dividend was cut to $0.075 per share or an annualized dividend of $0.30 per share (a dividend cut of 68%, OUCH).  At least the stock buyback program was able to keep the outstanding common shares stable.  Basically, the 2 million shares Masco repurchased in 2009 offset the options and shares awarded to employees and directors.

On the positive side, the company has managed to improve its cash position by 400 million dollars over the last year while still lowering its long term debt slightly.  However, it still has a ways to go before I would consider the stock in “good shape” moving forward.  By any metric, the stock has performed miserably over the past 5 years.  If you had invested in the stock at the end of 2004, you would have less than half of your original investment at the end of 2009.  Therefore, I feel lucky to be supporting a small gain on my Masco position.

Moving forward, I don’t expect too much from Masco.  The company will probably continue to show some signs of improvement, but until there is a true recovery in the housing market, it will be difficult for Masco to greatly improve its sales and profitability.  Either way it will continue to sit in the Own Every Stock Portfolio waiting for better times.  However, maybe you will have a different view and opinion of the future of Masco after reviewing the financials yourself.

I have mixed feelings about Phillip Morris International's (PM) stock.  By the numbers, it is a solid company continuing to produce good earnings,  increasing its dividend, and aggressively buying back its stock.  All of these things bode well for the future of Phillip Morris International's stock.  Unfortunately, these profits all come from the sale of tobacco products.  While I believe everyone has the right to choose whether they use tobacco products or not (in fact, I have been known to smoke a cigar or two), it is saddening to think of the millions of people hooked on these tobacco products.  On the positive side, PM employed 77,300 people in 2009, an increase of 1700 jobs in 2009, a year most companies had numerous layoffs.  Regardless, I will let each person make their own jugdement about the company in general, I am simply going to review the stock and its corresponding numbers.

Phillip Morris International (PM) was spun off of Altria (MO) in March of 2008, basically to separate their domestic and international tobacco businesses.  Since the spinoff, PM quarterly dividends have increased from $0.46 to $.58 per quarter, a 26% increase in less than 2 years.  The $2.32 annualized dividend equates to around a 4.5% current yield, an attractive dividend yield for most dividend investors.  Along with its dividend increases, Phillip Morris has also managed to reduce its outstanding common shares from around 2.11 billion to 1.94 billion (an 8% reduction) over the last couple years.  Expect the hefty stock buybacks to continue with a new 12 billion dollar buyback program announced this February.

Revenues dropped 1.5% in 2009, but based on the condition of the world economy, this is a relatively strong number when compared to most other companies.  Phillip Morris International's revenues are fairly well diversified throughout the world with 47% of the revenue coming from the European Union, 23% from Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 19% from Asia, and the final 11% of revenue coming from Latin America.

The company is also sitting on $1.5 billion in cash, which it has continued to use to make acquisitions.  In 2009, PM acquired a tobacco company based in South Africa as well as agreed to terms on a Columbia based cigarette company.  On the earnings front, Phillip Morris International beat expectations each quarter last year.  Currently, the stock is trading at a little more than 12 times its 2011 earnings.  Moving forward, I expect PM will continue to produce strong results based on a growing "middle class" around the world and a consumer base that will continue to use its products.  Of course, my outlook may just be a bunch of hot air and smoke, I suggest reviewing he numbers yourself.