Check it out: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060427/earns_first_marblehead.html?.v=1.

This stock is going to at least $60 (Purchased at $47)

The stock jumped today $3.50 on news that Phil Dolori is being promoted to Group President. Also, Papa John’s announced a deal with Middleby yesterday stating it has made an agreement with Middleby for purchase of energy-efficient ovens that can make pizza in 5-7 minutes and “has the exclusive right through 2008 to purchase the patented oven and has committed to the purchase of 1,500 or more by the end of 2008. The company expects that the oven will be installed, usually two per restaurant, in all 500+ company-owned domestic Papa John’s restaurants by mid-2007 and an additional 250 or more franchised or company-owned Papa John’s restaurants through 2008.” Exciting news for the company, I’m sure.

With final exams very near, it’s been difficult to post as much as usual. However, I do have things lined up for the summer and you can definitely count on my blogging frequency to go up. Here are some things I’m looking forward to:

• Experiment curb painting.
• Delve into new niche for new online business.
• Find local sponsors for new online business.
• Continue to work on www.campingcook.com and get SEO down cold.
• Reading list (see below)
• Find out what I need to do to start ‘Facebook’-like project.
• Attend New Jersey Business & Industry Association meetings and try to meet as many CEOs as I can.
• Attend speed networking events over the summer in Princeton, NJ.

So Bender Trust is over. It was actually pretty interesting to get to wear the shoes of an investment analyst. I worked on our 7-page report for a good six to seven hours. Of course, I did the majority of the work but whatever. In the end, we did a damn good job. I thought Mr. Francfort was pretty impressed with our report and very intrigued by the company we chose. With a bit more knowledge about the industry, I think I’d be an excellent analyst in all honesty. Let’s see if I choose to go down that road. Not sure when we find out the results of the competition. One thing though–it was ridiculous the number of people that didn’t even bother to dress up for the competition. You’re finance majors for God’s sake. Myself and the people in my group were the only ones really dressed up. Oh well. Better to be overdressed than underdressed I say.

Google Desktop is an amazing utility to keep you on top of your stuff. I thought it might be useful for readers to get in on this as this tool allows you to monitor stocks, headlines, blogs, photo slideshows, and could even replace your sticky notes forever. Give it a try: www.desktop.google.com.

Bender Trust starts at 9:30 tonight. I’m just putting on the finishing touches of the report right now. It looks pretty good so far. I think we’ll do well. Look for another post tonight to see how it went.

I actually wanted to buy stock in this company but it was simply too expensive and I would not have been able to achieve diversification with the number of shares I would have accumalated. Middleby is the stock we’ve picked for the Bender Trust competition. Here are some reasons why we like this stock:

Company: MIDDLEBY CORP, (MIDD) designs, makes, markets and services a broad line of equipment used for the cooking, preparation, serving and storage of food in commercial and institutional kitchens and restaurants throughout the world.

• Sales were up 18.1% for the quarter and 16.8% for the year.
• Earnings improved from a $660,000 loss in Q4 2004 to a $7.2 million gain during the same period in 2005.
• More diverse menu among the restaurants it serves and a demand for more energy-efficient ovens.
• Recently, group president Phil Dolori exercised options for 3,000 total shares within two weeks, even though his combined return on those shares would result in more than an 11-bagger.
• March 8^th: Middleby met analyst expectations of $0.91 per share.
• 10.42% increase in Net Margin from Q4 2004. 44.9% increase in accounts receivables. Long-term debt decreased 1.7%. Accounts payable increased 55.6% although we think that their increase in accounts receivables and increased sales will make up for this.
• We believe MIDD has a current value of around $115 per share. Therefore, we believe it is undervalued at the price of $85.92 per share.

I’ve been thinkin about what sort of crazy entrepreneurial experiment I should hold for a while know. Some of those that intrigue me the most as to what I will be able to learn include the following:

• Curb painting (I hear this is a real money maker with high demand)
• Mowing lawns (I know…yawn but it makes money)
• Computer spyware clean-up (Interesting, I’m good at it, although I wouldn’t really be able to document it well)

Comment on this post and let me know which experiment you would like to see done or if you know of a better, more interesting one.
And a kind of crappy cartoon to accompany this post:

I just got back from tonight’s Bender Trust meeting (http://www.libor.rutgers.edu/bender.html). Bender Trust is an event held as part of the Little Investment Bankers of Rutgers (LIBOR) organization at my University. The competition, if you will, consists of picking a stock and presenting it to Bender Trust portfolio manager Mr. Francfort, expressing why you think the company is of value. I hear Mr. Francfort likes to tear the participants apart in terms of the questions he asks them, so my group is very motivated to know our pick (Middleby, Nasdaq: MIDD) the best we can. Another thing I noticed was how many of the participants were very well-versed in a multitude of industries trading in the stock market. I realize that my group and I are only freshman where as the rest of the participants are Juniors and Seniors. Nevertheless, I realize that if I really want to know how the market works I am going to have to follow it everyday. So, from now on I will wake up at 8:30am every weekday morning to catch the opening bell and perhaps catch the closing bell if I can. Also, I’ve added many books to my reading list for this summer. These include:

Think and Grow Rich

The Little Book that Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt

New Venture Creation by Jeffry A. Timmons

Losing my Virginity by Richard Branson

Reads by various authors including:

Buffett

Graham

Ben Franklin

Bill Miller

As you can see, being a student let alone being an early entrepreneur takes a huge toll on the wallet. Although this is true, obviously I still see college as a worthwhile investment. Nevertheless, we all have had times as students where we’ve had to go on the cheap. So I’m curious as to know, what are some of the cheapest things you or someone you know has done to get by?