Revlon chairman Perelman buys 500,000 shares

A follow-up to a previous post ... Revlon Chairman Ronald Perelman acquired another 500,000 shares of company stock. Combined with the 600,000 shares he purchased last month, this adds up to over million shares.

With micro-cap stocks that trade in the sub-penny range, that's really nothing remarkable - you can suck up a million shares with a small amount of cash - but since revlon is trading around $1 a share, this represents a significant investment.

While I don't have enough funds in this portfolio to justify pumping more cash into this company, I'm giving serious consideration to adding a significant position in Revlon to my main portfolio.

PTEL: All too quiet

Petel, Inc., recently announced ... well ... nothing at all for the past couple of months, which is unusual for a company that has a history of pumping out press releases every fortnight or so to remind stockholders that it's still trying to gain a foothold in the industry.

The company has been uncharacteristically silent while its stock price continues to plunge, and it's fallen below the threshold at which I usually bail out - but since I've already taken profits on this one, its downward spiral isn't costing me any real money.

If corporate insiders were loading up on shares, I'd suspect that there was something big in the works that they wanted to keep out of the public eye - but since there's no evidence of that, and I've no reason to suspect they're doing so covertly, my sense is that this isn't the calm before the storm, but merely the awkward silence of the righteously embarrassed.

Weekly Summary

This week, I've dipped closer to break-even. I'm still ahead of the S&P 500, which is down about 5% for the year, but that's cold comfort given the amount of research that goes into selecting stocks.


I have enough cash at this point to open a position on another company, but the stocks on my watch list aren't showing much promise - had I bought into them, I'd have more to regret than to celebrate - so I'll hang onto my liquid assets until I find something I have a stronger sense about.

BLSH - Cut and Run

Blue Star Health has been dancing on the edge of a 50% loss, the point at which I've learned (the hard way) to cut and run, and so I liquidated my position:


Given the current "crisis" with grain crops, legislators are beginning to question whether it makes sense to subsidize biofuels, and the concept is losing its glamor in the consumer market as well. Since it is estimate that it will take five years to ramp up grain production, it's unlikely this will bounce back in the short run.

I might look into this company again if the situation improves, if it survives - but for now, I see nothing but a downward trend.

H3 Announces Grand Opening in Miami

H3 Enterprises announced today that ...

The Grand Opening of the HipHopSodaShop in Miami, Florida is scheduled to begin on May 21, 2008 and will last until July 21, 2008.

On one hand, it's great that the store will be opening in time for Memorial Day weekend, as I expect that this will boost its performance out of the gate and help them to build a client base at the beginning of the summer holidays.

On the other hand, I do wonder why an "Opening" is going to last for a two-month period. No details were provided on this matter, and it could be that they will open an unfinished restaurant, with a promise of additional features to be added over the next few months. That could do them more harm than good.

Weekly Summary

My portfolio has recovered slightly this week, bouncing back from the general slump that's started my second quarter with a fizzle:

Two of my holdings are dancing on the edge of the abyss - I generally dump a stock that loses more than 50% of its value, as I have never owned one that has come back afterward - and some of the others are doing moderately well.

Revlon reports smaller 1st-quarter loss

In today's headlines:

Revlon Inc. reported that it narrowed its first-quarter loss, as lower expenses offset a sales decline in the U.S. Revlon's quarterly loss shrank to $2.5 million, or break-even per share. … Analysts, on average, predicted a loss of a penny per share.

It's always good news when a company beats predictions, and the share price this week has been on the rise. I don't expect that the difference of a penny is going to send it skyward, but it's a sign that the company is headed in the right direction, faster than expected.