MUSINGS

(2/3/2012) Three of our stock selections are in the green and four find themselves in the red from where they were selected. Overall our stock picks are currently up 30.9%. This stellar percentage rise is mostly due to selection #101408 which is up substantially and still (in our opinion) has more to run. A couple of our other selections have reported positive earnings in the past week and are rated buys at this point.

European debt problems seem to be finding a patch. Things may be looking up.

We're evaluating some interesting buying opportunities and hope to provide some new selections for you in the near future.

For now we're suggesting a tentative buy opportunity on a couple of our selections. One must remember our selections remain longer term holds.

It looks, maybe, possibly, as if the economy is in a slow turn around. Profits look to be up again this quarter and some think they see sunshine ahead. Unfortunately many problems still exist - stubborn unemployment, a new round of mortgage resets in the residential real estate market, trouble in commercial real estate, sovereign debt issues abroad and at home and insurrection in the middle east leading to higher oil prices and possible inflation ahead. I think we're still deep in the woods. I expect a market correction at any time which should be even better for us as it would position our selections at lower prices than where we're at currently. In buying mode, a lower price allows one to buy more of what one wants to add to their respective accounts. That would set us up for larger profits when this economy DOES turn positive - and at some point it will. Hopefully sometime shortly after that point we may be able to better speculate on where the market may be headed longer term. This game requires infinite patience. When things DO turn around our selected stocks should be poised to do very well. In the meantime, The Small Stock Hunter will continue to hunt for and uncover companies that are fundamentally attractive in the hopes of attaining future profits when the economy and markets eventually point towards a genuine upturn.

We'll continue to update our current selections and look for new opportunities, adding them to the REPORTS page as they're uncovered.

Our selected stocks are followed and brought up to date on a quarterly basis and/or as pertinent news becomes available on the UPDATES page. Weekly price percentage movements (up or down) will also be updated there each weekend.

Stay tuned and keep the faith.

This is just a small note to remind everyone once again that the stock reports listed for sale on this site are to be considered long term holds. In my experience that's where the big profits are made. Sometimes the length of these holds can be a year or more. In studies regarding stock traders, 94% lose their money. Don't let anyone fool you; trying to time the market or individual stocks is a daunting task and best left to market wizards, of which there are few.

Most investors buy stocks at the top only to watch their profits melt away. One of the most important things to learn in the investment game is to buy when everyone else is selling and sell when everyone else is buying. In other words, using an overused, but relevant cliché, one wants to buy low and sell high. That's the classic example of contrarian investing.

All of the above would depend entirely on a company with positive fundamentals of course. We monitor all companies featured on our website on a quarterly basis and when significant events are reported, this information is then made available to you.

This has been a tough market to say the least and will most likely get meaner in the near future considering the economic clouds ahead. The selections you'll find on the REPORTS page have been chosen on their fundamental merits and as long as these don't change each should do well as we move forward. As you can see on the UPDATES page, a couple of these companies have done exceedingly well; the majority have not. I expect that with improving market/economic conditions, as they start to occur (and they will), the balance of our selections will start to show improvement. Agsin, investing for the longer term takes patience. As long as these concerns show continued progress, they'll continue to be followed.

Remember...

Fear in the market place: It’s important to note that with fear, comes opportunity.

Now or in the upcoming months would be an opportune time to carefully establish positions in the market for future profits.

Be careful out there.