Double-checking the shopping list

On Friday, I did some mental preparation (as opposed to physical prep via barf bag for another turbulent ride) by staking out some price targets if stocks plunged again.

Well, Nasdaq is actually up 7 points today, but a large majority of the strongest growth stocks have been stunted. One of my favorites, CROX, actually fell from $59 at the open to a low of $52, but I missed the bargain-buying opportunity. It was bedtime for me (4-7 a.m. Hawaii time). Oh well.

Here's a look at my A- and B+ stock lists and where the targets compare as of 1:50 p.m. Eastern time.





[A-] Amazon (AMZN), Friday price 76, target 70 ... today's low 76, currently 77
[A-] Apple (AAPL), now 131, target 125 ... today's low 128, currently 132
[A-] Baidu (BIDU), now 198, target 175 ... today's low 186, currently 191
[A-] Crocs (CROX), now 58, target 54 ... today's low 52.50, currently 55
[A-] Foster Wheeler (FWLT), now 110, target 98 ... today's low 101, currently 101
[A-] Garmin (GRMN), now 98, target 88 ... today's low 95, currently 95
[A-] Google (GOOG), now 503, target 480 ... today's low 502, currently 507
[A-] Nintendo (NTDOY.PK), now 56, target 55 ... today's low n/a, current bid 57.20, current ask 57.50
[A-] Research in Motion (RIMM), now 218, target 206 ... today's low 213, currently 217
[A-] Under Armor (UA), now 64, target 60 ... today's low 62, currently 63

Of these 10 A- picks, only one has already hit the target (CROX).





[B+] China Medical Parts (CMED), now 32, target 30 ... today's low 27, currently 28
[B+] CNOOC Ltd. (CEO), now 113, target 111 ... today's low 109, currently 109
[B+] Darden Intl. (DAR), now 8.03, target 7.50 ... today's low 7.82, currently 8.03
[B+] Flowserve (FLS), now 68, target 65 ... today's low 67, currently 68
[B+] Focus Media (FMCN), now 39, target 35 ... today's low 37, currently 37
[B+] Gmarket (GMKT), now 22, target 21 ... today's low 21.55, currently 22.32
[B+] HDFC Bank (HDB), now 81, target 73 ... today's low 81, currently 83
[B+] Intercontinental Exch. (ICE), now 153, target 140 ... today's low 148, currently 152
[B+] Opsware (OPSW), sold to HPQ at 14.25
[B+] Potash Corp. (POT), now 85, target 77 ... today's low 81, currently 82
[B+] Precision Castparts (PCP), now 137, target 125 ... today's low 134, currently 135
[B+] Salesforce.com (CRM), now 39, target 27 ... today's low 38, currently 40
[B+] SanDisk (SNDK), now 53, target 49 ... today's low 53, currently 53
[B+] Sina Corp. (SINA), now 42, target 40 ... today's low 40.85, currently 41.63

Of the 14 B+, two Chinese stocks hit targets. CMED is a tough call even at 28. CEO, though, trades at only 11 times earnings and is a solid oil/gas play out of China. Plenty of growth ahead as an off-shore driller providing energy for a booming economy.

Gmarket of South Korea is another nice company on this radar. The robust earnings report of last week was nice, but I want to examine GMKT's potential competition across East Asia a lot more closely.

Overall, there's no point in climbing into a plane when weather is stormy. If anything, small ball (chiseling in with small positions) could work here, but I'm going to wait it out before buying more.

Pupule Paul is long AAPL, BIDU, CROX, NTDOY.PK, UA, FMCN and SINA.

Yes, B+ picks can be bargains too

Here's my shopping list for Monday, when the market could resume the Big Dipper, then turn around at mid-day.

I never cared for roller coasters, but that's what we're on for awhile. My wish list, current prices and target buy prices (highly adjustable):

[B+] China Medical Parts (CMED), now 32, target 30
[B+] CNOOC Ltd. (CEO), now 113, target 111
[B+] Darden Intl. (DAR), now 8.03, target 7.50
[B+] Flowserve (FLS), now 68, target 65
[B+] Focus Media (FMCN), now 39, target 35
[B+] Gmarket (GMKT), now 22, target 21
[B+] HDFC Bank (HDB), now 81, target 73
[B+] Intercontinental Exch. (ICE), now 153, target 140
[B+] Opsware (OPSW), sold to HPQ at 14.25
[B+] Potash Corp. (POT), now 85, target 77
[B+] Precision Castparts (PCP), now 137, target 125
[B+] Salesforce.com (CRM), now 39, target 27
[B+] SanDisk (SNDK), now 53, target 49
[B+] Sina Corp. (SINA), now 42, target 40

Dammit, where's the barf bag?

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.

Opsware rising to new heights

Opsware, formerly LoudCloud, is making some noise today.

With more than an hour left in the session, the stock is up 4.7 percent to $10.46, an all-time high. Monday's sales and marketing partnership deal with Solidcore boosted the stock, which had been trading sideways since hitting its previous high on June 18.

With a $1.1 billion market cap, OPSW has been alluring but I haven't put my toes in the water yet. With Marc Andreessen and a bunch of his former charges at Netscape still alongside, Opsware has an interesting chemistry and leadership that separates it from the average small or mid-cap. It's one of my favorite B+ rated stocks.

Other B+ picks doing well today: Precision Castparts (PCP) is up 3.5 percent, Infosys (INFY) is up 3.4 percent and HDFC Bank (HDB) is up 3.5 percent after raising $698 million in American Depositary Shares.

Among Pupule's A- picks, RIMM continues to soar into the stratosphere, up 2 percent to $234.97. AAPL is also at a new high, trading at $140.21 with no bad news in sight and earnings less than a week away. Spartan Motors (SPAR) is also up, but I'm leaning toward pushing it to a B or B+ level. The fundamentals of the company haven't changed, but the market perception has. Short-term traders took SPAR to great heights in recent months before taking their gains.

At $16.51, it's a relative bargain, but probably not an A- stock until it can raise the bar and convince more investors to hold on for the long haul.

Baidu is still tumbling, now down to $194. A typical pullback for a small float, but earnings could spark another major run. BIDU has its own set of trading rules, re: giant Internet stocks of the late 1990s.

One of the B grade stocks, Seaspan Corp. (SSW), is up 5.6 percent after a healthy Q2 earnings report. In addition, Credit Suisse initiated coverage of Seaspan today.

Pupule Paul is a tiny bit long AAPL and BIDU.