Opinion on  Mesa Laboratories Inc. (MLAB)     Sector: Technology  >  Industry: Scientific & Technical Instr.
Mesa Laboratories (MLAB)

Earlier today I sold a sixth of my Coach (COH) holding and bought a new position in Bolt (BTJ). While I was looking for a new position, I came across Mesa Laboratories (MLAB) and I believe it would be an excellent pick for the blog. I chose to buy Bolt, probably because I had already written it up previously, and also because Mesa is medical stock, and quite frankly, I have quite a few medical stocks in my trading account already! I do not own any shares nor do I have any options on this stock....

...Let's take a closer look at this small company which has some interesting findings making it a nice match for my blog and my own particular criteria on picking stocks!

Mesa (MLAB) made the list of top % gainers on the NASDAQ today. Mesa closed at $23.00/share, up $1.99 or 9.47% on the day....

Hello Friends!  Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice!  As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

If any of you think that I am NOT an amateur investor, then after THIS story, I am sure I shall have you convinced!  The other thing about this story is that it is so EMBARASSING.  I mean, when you BLOG, you do it all publicly.  All of your OOPS and SHUCKS and 'didn't mean to do THAT...' if you know what I mean :).  I am entirely human.  And I can really err :).

Yesterday, I got all excited about the Cytyc acquisition and decided to sell my remaining shares of Cytyc which being acquired, were sort of unlikely to appreciate much from their elevated point anyhow.  So I went looking at the top % gainers list, as I am prone to do.  And boy was I excited.  I had written up Baldor (BEZ) a couple of times and really liked their numbers and it was on the top % gainers list!  Cleverly thinking about my 1/7th sale figures (being rather quick with the '7's tables' in multiplication in school), I decided to buy 140 shares of Baldor.   And I wrote it up on the blog and shared it with all of you with a big :).  Sort of like that kid that stuck his thumb in the pie and pulled out a plum and said what a good boy am I....or however that nursery rhyme goes :).

O.K. so this morning I check my Fidelity account and see not 140 shares but 280 shares of Baldor.  Boy did THEY mess up I figure and emailed them right away.  HOW could they mess up like THAT???  To follow up on this, I got a representative on the line and shared with him my apparent observation of a Fidelity screw-up.  What did they do? I wanted to know, Enter that purchase twice?  Fortunately the cooler-headed representative walked me through my own account and low and behold, I ALREADY HAD PURCHASED BALDOR SHARES TWO WEEKS AGO when sold my portion of UEIC.  YIKES. 

O.K., to make a short story long, I sold 140 shares of Baldor, and checking the lists of top % gainers, came across another favorite, Mesa Laboratories (MLAB) which I had previously written up on Stock Picks Bob's Advice on January 12, 2007, making a nice move higher today.  Mesa reported 4th quarter 2007 results this morning that were very strong.  The stock moved very strongly higher and I picked up 210 shares of Mesa at $24.00/share.  As I write this up, Mesa is trading at $24.00, up $5.50 or 29.73% on the day.  I hope the stock can hold this sharp gain and not shake me out on the profit-taking :).  Wish me luck.

MESA LABORATORIES (MLAB) IS RATED A BUY

While I am at it, let me update you on another sale.  My Meridian Bioscience (VIVO) hit a 180% appreciation level and a little earlier today I sold 45 shares of my 315 share position (1/7th) at $20.84. Meridian (VIVO) was purchased 4/21/05, and has a cost basis of $7.42/share.  Thus, this partial sale represented a gain of $13.03 or 175.6% after expenses (this was at a bit over 180% appreciation before commissions, etc. 

Normally with a partial sale at a gain, I would be 'eligible' to add a new position.  However, with LOTS of margin, I have capped my portfolio at 20 positions and this small sale will be used to help reduce the significant margin level.  When I get a chance, I shall need to update you on my current Trading Account holdings and all of the margin, etc., held in the account.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.  If you get a chance, please be sure and visit my Stock Picks Podcast Website, where I discuss many of the same stocks I write about here on this website.

Bob

Hello Friends!  Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice!  As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.

As I like to do from time to time on this blog, I would like to share with you the current status of my Trading Portfolio.  I last wrote up my "trading portfolio update" on June 7, 2007, a month ago.  There have been a few changes since then.  But the biggest development has been my partipation in Covestor.  You now can check my Covestor page and see the daily changes, all trades, and my performance relative to the indices and other registered investors.  Thus far, I have been doing quite well as it has been a fortunate month for me especially with he Ventana bid by Roche.  I am always grateful when my portfolio and my investing strategy is woking; but I am aware that there will be times when nothing seems to work.  Sometimes the most successful approach is about persistence and patience.

This past month also found me shaken-out of Gildan Activewear, which seemed to almost know I had sold on a dip and gleefully turned around to move higher making the top % gainers list that same day! O.K. that's a bit too anthropomorphic, but still, don't you just hate those days sometimes :).

So I am back to 19 positions.  Let's take a look at them and I will share with you in order: the symbol, number of shares, date of purchase, price of purchase, latest price (7/6/07), and percentage gain (or loss).

Baldor Electric Co. (BEZ), 140 shares, 5/22/07, $47.19, $50.04, 6.04%.

Bolt Technology (BTJ), 129 shares, 1/12/07, $17.44, $56.43, 223.63%

Cerner (CERN), 120 shares, 2/2/07, $49.76, $58.23, 17.02%

Coach (COH), 61 shares, 2/25/03, $8.33, $49.37, 492.58%

Covance (CVD), 119 shares, 4/9/07, $62.61, $70.19, 12.10%

Hologic (HOLX), 120 shares,  1/31/07, $55.58, $56.46, 1.58%

Harris (HRS), 120 shares, 1/31/07, $50.05, $55.91, 11.71%

Kyphon (KYPH), 125 shares, 5/20/05, $29.21, $53.18, 82.03%

Mesa Labs (MLAB), 210 shares, 5/23/07, $24.05, $24.75, 2.90%

Morningstar (MORN, 140 shares, 11/22/05, $32.57, $47.61, 46.16%

MEDTOX Scientific (MTOX), 350 shares, 6/26/07, $28.58, $29.89, 4.57%

Precision Castparts (PCP), 86 shares, 10/24/06, $69.05, $127.82, 85.11%

Quality Systems (QSII), 88 shares, 7/28/03, $7.75, $39.04, 403.82%

ResMed (RMD), 150 shares, 2/4/05, $29.87, $41.72, 39.68%

Satyam Computer Services (SAY), 210 shares, 4/20/07, $25.55, $26.25, 2.73%

Starbucks (SBUX), 50 shares, 1/24/03, $11.40, $26.55, 132.80%

Universal Electronics (UEIC), 155 shares, 2/23/07, $25.24, $36.78, 45.72%

Meridian Bioscience (VIVO), 270 shares,  4/21/05, $7.42, $22.00, 196.54%

Wolverine World Wide (WWW), 200 shares, 4/19/06, $23.55, $28.51, 21.08%

Since my last review on June 7, 2007, I sold 23 shares of Ventana at $76.83, and the rest of the 139 shares of Ventana (VMSI) at $76.502 later the same day on 6/26/07.  On that day I purchased 350 shares of MEDTOX at $28.5534, Bolt hit another appreciation target and I sold 1/7th of my holding (21 shares) at $50.52.  Finally, on 7/5/07, I sold my 210 shares of Gildan at $33.1101 when it hit an (8)% loss after purchase.

Currently I am at 19 positions.  My equity value is $119,962.09, my margin balance is at $56,031.51, giving me a 53.29% margin equity percentage.  As of 7/6/07, I have $33,571.01 in unrealized gains in my account, and with the above trades have taken $3,100.15 in net short-term gains, and $17,824.18 in net long-term gains for a total of $20,924.33 in realized gains for 2007.  I also have paid $2,563.07 in margin interest and have received a total of $272.58 in ordinary dividends and distributions and miscellaneous income.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions regarding my Trading Account.  Please feel free to leave them on the blog or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.  If you get a chance, be sure and visit my Stock Picks Bob's Advice Covestor page, where you can see a third-party analysis of my holdings and performance.  

Bob