As I said last week, I’ve decided to jump back into the world of investments. As of this morning, I have 6 new positions in:

- Ameristar Casinos (ASCA)
- Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK)
- MTR Gaming Group (MNTG)
- Macy’s (M)
- CoStar Group (CSGP)
- ChipMOS Technologies (IMOS)

I didn’t have a lot of time to do my own research, but I did consult with some of my friends who are brilliant in this arena. My first three investments (ASCA, PNK, and MNTG) are regional casino companies. They operate mostly small slot-based casinos throughout the US. After hearing my friend’s investment thesis, I agreed. While the big guys (Wynn, Sands, MGM, Bally, etc..) are busy focusing on international expansion, they don’t have the resources to look at the smaller markets. With gambling being legalized throughout the US more and more, these seem like good places to have my money.

The next position, Macy’s, may seem like an ass-backwards move given the slump in the economy and consumer’s moving preferences towards discount retailers. However, my friend pointed out that they are very cheap right now. They are trading at low historical earnings multiples likely due to the lack of integration with their relatively newly purchased May stores. Once they get those operating efficiently they should bring their margins back up and the stock price is soon to follow.

CoStar Group is a riskier move, but one that I think could pay off. They are basically the Bloomburg of commercial real estate. They sell an information based product to commercial real estate brokers that basically has a listing of hundreds of thousands of real estate locations. The investment thesis is entirely in their international expansion. They are currently moving into the UK and France and will likely continue in the rest of Europe. Given the decreasing value of the dollar and the untapped market, I like this one.

ChipMOS Technologies may be the dumbest investment I’m making because I’m doing it on faith. Another one of my friends runs a hedge fund and says that this is one of his best picks. It doesn’t hurt that this guy’s fund has earned about 60-70% net year-over-year. I trust him…hopefully that trust will pay off.

That’s my portfolio for now. I don’t have a lot invested, but it’s a start. Now let’s hope the world economy doesn’t collapse.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 4:14 pm and is filed under Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.