Festival of Stocks #150

This week we have the honor of hosting the 150th edition of the Festival of Stocks.  According to the festival’s original sponsor, ValueInvestingNews, “The Festival of Stocks is a blog carnival dedicated to highlighting bloggers’ best articles on stock market related topics. This will include research and commentary on specific stocks, industry analysis, ETFs, REITs, stock derivatives, and other related topics.”  This is the second time ModernGraham has hosted the festival, and we are looking forward to hosting it again in the future.

Before I get to this week’s submissions from some of the best financial blogs on the web, I want to take a moment to introduce new readers to our site here at ModernGraham.  Since August of 2006 we have been devoted to the study and modernization of Benjamin Graham’s teachings from his classic book, The Intelligent Investor. Some features you may find interesting include our valuation calculator, where you can estimate the value of a company based on the formula Graham presented, our valuation database, a growing list of companies that we are tracking, and our ValueInvesting Search Engine, a search engine focused on providing content relevant to the value investor.  Please feel free to subscribe to our site, by RSS feed or email, and come back again to use our features.  In addition, we are currently exploring adding guest authors as well as full-time contributors.  If you are interested, please contact us.

Now, on to this week’s submissions.  There are a lot of great posts included here from some great writers and thinkers.  Enjoy!

Stock Pursuit presents New Net-Net’s IFON & LDIS.  A look at two net-net’s. IFON just turned a profitable quarter and LDIS is in a steady uptrend.

ETF Database presents The ETF Hall of Fame: 25 People Who Revolutionized the ETF Industry.

Online Accounting Colleges presents 25 Social Media Sites for Financial Professionals.

Dividends Value presents Chubb Corp. (CB) Dividend Stock Analysis.  Chubb Corp. is one of the largest U.S. property-casualty insurers, Chubb has carved out a number of niches, including high-end personal lines and specialty liability lines coverage. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

MagicDiligence presents Quick Take: QLogic Corp (QLGC).  QLogic is a provider of equipment for storage networks. Good organic growth potential, solid market positioning, and very strong financial metrics make this an MFI stock worth looking at.

Financial Tales presents A Tale of Identity; Trader or Investor.  Are you an investor or a trader? The answer is I don’t know exactly where one begins and the other one ends. This question needs to be examined because it provides insight into why so many people would be far better off investing in a diversified portfolio of low cost passive investments such as low cost mutual funds and exchange traded funds that they rebalance periodically or systematically.

Bargaineering presents Scottrade Review.

Prudent Money Market Outlook presents Summer Time Blues.  Keep in mind that investing in stocks is all about monitoring your risk.

Darwin’s Finance presents Median vs. Mean: Know the Difference or Risk Being Manipulated.  This article takes aim at politicians, professors, stock-pickers and others who selectively cite means, medians and other statistics in an attempt to fool you and advance their agenda. By mastering literacy on these topics, you can discern their motives and decide if what they’re saying is legitimate.

Bootstrap Investing presents Somebody Stop Me Before I Buy Again: Boeing Update.  Current thoughts on Boeing.

Good Financial Cents presents What Kind of Investor Are You Right Now?

The Canadian Finance Blog presents Canadian Index ETFs – XIU vs XIC.  When looking for an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that indexes Canadian equities, the two most suitable choices are from iShares.

Christian Personal Finance Blog presents 4 arguments for investing in ETFs.  ETF investing isn’t for everyone, but these are 4 reasons to consider it.

Investing School presents CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate).   CAGR is an easy way to calculate what’s really important, the annual growth of a portfolio.

The Smarter Wallet presents Use Candlestick Charts, Trading Signals To Evaluate The Stock Market.

Investing Toolkit presents The Successful Stock Investor: Do You Have These Attributes?.

Old School Value presents 2009 Top 40 Best Stocks to Retire On: Part 4.  Look at the last 10 companies from Fortunes Best stocks to retire on. Intrinsic value estimates and commentary provided.