Pupule promotion: FLS

I know a little about stuff I use. PowerBooks. Crocs. But water pumps and meters?

Nope. All I know about company like Flowserve is that it has produced outstanding fundamental numbers for its shareholders. That's why I rated FLS a B+ a few months ago. Today, after a blowout report for Q2, Flowserve has earned the right to be an A- pick.

The Co increased its Q2 earnings per share by a whopping 91%. Flowserve did so many things well, down market or not, this is a keeper. Big keeper.

B+ picks slide, but Potash still rising

The B+ gang of picks is holding up fairly well, but that's like saying there were survivors of the Titanic. Fortunately, no lives are being lost in today's market, no matter how bloody.

With Dow Jones down 281 points (2.1%) and Nasdaq off 64 points (2.5%), five of the B+ picks were down more than 3%. Flowserve (FLS) sank 4.7% to $68.87 after announcing that it would sell its Swiss manufacturing facility.

HDFC Bank (HDB) of India was down 4.5% to $81.71. No bad news. Just a big bank being hit hard like all the financials. Whether the credit issue pertains to India is another question.

Darling International (DAR) got an upgrade on Monday, but sold down with the rest of the market. DAR closed at $8.03, down 4%.

China Medical Parts (CMED) and CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) were hit by U.S. volatility, as well. No bad news for either company, which could make CNOOC extremely attractive. With a P/E of 11 and return on equity of 34%, I admit it. I'm tempted.

Of the 13 B+ picks, five are in the green. Potash (POT) continues to trade like an internet bubble stock. The fertilizer company is up another 1.9% to $85,35. When I took notice of Potash a few months back, it was at $210 (pre-3 for 1 split) and it look overpriced. Wrong. I was wrong. As long as agriculture is hot, so it will be with the big POT.

SanDisk (SNDK), Focus Media (FMCN) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) are also up. SNDK had a great earnings report a couple of weeks ago, but has pulled back from its recent high of $62. SNDK is trading at $53.43, up 1.6% for the day.

FMCN is up on no news, but the stock has been hammered in the past month since the Co asked Nasdaq for a hearing regarding two letters from a short seller. FMCN traded up 1.1% to $39.82, well off its high of $52.

Just a handful float in stormy weather

Hmmm ... A- list ... not good today.

Amazon down 2.3%. Baidu down 4.3%. Crocs down 1.5%. Foster Wheeler down less than 1%. Google down 5.1%. Spartan Motors down 3%. RIMM down 1.6%.

The only A- in the green? Who else? Apple, up 2.6% to an all-time high of $143.75. Incredible. Maybe insane. But AAPL moves up on an overall down, down, down day in the market. Apple traded on its highest volume since July 10. Quite bullish.

Just 18 days ago, Apple traded at $119 intra-day. Now, while profit-takers empty out their positions in almost all other stocks, Apple just keeps climbing. It's 50 points higher now than it was when I bought it a few months ago. Too bad I sold it at $92. Yeah. Lesson learned. Stick to the gameplan.

Getting back in at $122 (far smaller position) is no consolation. I knew the facts about Apple. I understood the risks. The positives outweighed the risks by far. I sold out to get more shares of another company. So I learned two lessons in that foolish sale: 1. stick to the gameplan, 2. don't let go of a winner before it can run. A third lesson? Be diversified.

The B+ list doesn't look much better today. Twelve of the 16 stocks were down. Nintendo, which operates in a universe of its own, was up 3% to $53.75. I could guess that NTDOY.PK will wind up at $70 or even $80 by year's end. But I won't. I just want more shares before the PPS takes off again.

Focus Media ended a six-day skid, gaining 2.7% to $45.21. Volume didn't match yesterday's massive selloff (7.8 million shares), but it was significant at 6.1 million shares. Now if only the Co can hurry up and get this earnings delay over with.

The other two B+ stocks to stay above water were Flowserve (FLS) and CNOOC (CEO). Both are oil plays that continue to thrive in the current market. FLS is up a mere 13% since it caught my eye, but CEO is up a whopping 56%.

Disclaimer: Pupule Paul is long BIDU, CROX, AAPLE, NTDOY.PK and FMCN.

Where's the green?

I've awoken to a Sea of Red.

This cold/sinus infection/yucky mess that has bugged me for a few weeks got me good this morning. I didn't get up until 10:40 (Hawaii time). By then, the market was done and I turned on my laptop to see the color of fury up and down my screen. Man, there was more green in my phlegm that on any of my stocks.

I also noticed a stock here and there that actually did OK today. When I get back from some errands, I'll take a closer look at what worked today. Even for those of us who stay long on our best stocks, it's interesting to see how the market works in relationship to them. Two of them, off the top of my fuzzy, delirious head, were Flowserve and CNOOC. Clearly a common denominator there.

Now, I must take my Worldwide Coughing Tour on the road. (It's not really as bad as I make it. I take Sudafed and live mostly a solitary life during this summer break. The giant roach that dared to enter my home a couple of weeks ago can attest to that.)

In the meantime, I recommend a post from Wang's World, where a relief from pressure and stress is available. Not that I've done a downward dog in the past decade.