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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (28617)	7/24/2000 8:39:29 AM
From: BI*RI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

"If I had your 6 year "no trade" outlook, and a taxable position, I would probably hold both stocks through the merger" As I plan to retire exactly 6 years from now, that is my horizon, as well. And my problem is that I'm in a taxable account in which JDSU has grown to 37%. As much as I had promised myself not to sell any JDSU, 37% is a bit much, and will even be higher if /when JDSU revisits it's high. I planned it out this weekend to reduce the JDSU and roll the proceeds into my 5 other stocks (a reverse Russian Army approach). But then when I calculated that even if I sold all of my taxable QCOM at a loss (our Roths are all QCOM), I'd still have to send out three equal checks next Winter, one for my son's tuition, one for my daughter's, and one to the IRS. Now I don't know what to do, and I hate it that I may end up taking on more risk than I want, and pass up the opportunity to increase my holdings in some other good stocks just because of the taxman. Marc

To: LindyBill who wrote (28617)	7/24/2000 10:48:29 AM
From: adairm	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 54805

Re: Merrill Lynch. I find having an account at Merrill comforting. I don't trade often in the account, so the brokerage fees really aren't material. (Yes, I have an ETrade account, too. Had one when the only way to get to them was thru Compuserve.) But, not to defend M-L, here's why I keep some of my accounts there: 1) They provide a really nice consolidated statement. I can keep track of my CMA, my kids accounts, my IRAs, my wife's IRAs, etc., easily. 2) The trading costs are high enough to force me to really think about the ramifications of the trade. Forces me into LTBH. Which is good for us Gorilla hunters. 3) I use M-L as a contrarian indicator! Since I understand that their 'agenda' is to make money for themselves (thank you Voltaire!), I usually take the other side of the trade! A case in point: In November 98, INTC just broke into new high territory, so I added to my position. Against the advice of my M-L broker. (I follow Wm O'Neil strategies, too.) A couple of days later, I ran into him at a fund raiser charity event, and he told me that Merrill's top tech/chip analyst, had just put a 'sell' on INTC. I said, literally, "He's an idiot!" My broker went on to defend Kurlack saying stuff like "declining ASPs", "competition with AMS", "Celerons canabalizing PII sales", etc. I replied, that Kurlack is really not an idiot, but he doesn't see the forest for the trees. Well, last I heard, Kurlack's left M-L, and INTC is up 150%. One should not underestimate the power of a Gorilla. I do hold some non-tech positions. They are: MDT (Medtronic), HD, PFE, and GE. Long term holds, all. These guys hold gorilla-like positions in their industries. (Well, maybe not PFE. Nobody's perfect!) I use gorillas as my Core portfolio. I do like to take swing trades, too, I do those at ETrade. How 'bout that JDSU! (I can cheerlead, too!) AdairM