...dividends do infact come into play, its overall profit over a 10 week span... I am in a 4 man group and we have 5,000 each to invest...
That being the case, and if you dont want to keep tabs on your portfolio, hourly, try this...
First Potomac Realty Trust (FPO). HQ is right down the street from where I work. I know the founder and the company well.
Currently trading at $7.51/share. Wait a couple days and I would expect it to be between $6.50/$7.00 a share. Dividend is $1.36. Yield is 19.40%. P/E is 8.21.
The 52 week high for this company was $19.05. Its 52 week low was $5.45.
Like every other finance/real estate stock, it took a big hit over the past 6 months.
However, the decrease in value has no basis in reality. Q4 profits quadrupled and the 2009 forecast is equally charming. If you sat on this, exclusively, for 10 weeks, I bet you could make a handy profit waiting for the dividend and then selling.
At the end of the 10 weeks, although thats pretty far out, I'd ballpark it between $10-11/share.
If, collectively, you have $20,000 in funny money, and assuming you buy it at $6.50, say, next week, heres how it would pan out:
Cost of Acquisition: 3,076 shares @ $6.50/share = $19,994.00
Quarterly Dividend: $0.34/share x 3,076 shares = $1,045.84
Revenue from Sale: 3,076 shares @ $10.00/share = $30,760.00
Total Cost of Acquisition = $19,994.00
Total Proceeds from Sale = $31,805.84
Short Term Gain = $11,811.84.
Return on Investment = 59.07%
Not bad for 10 weeks. For whats its worth, I've got real money with them. Bought in when it hit $6.90 and I have every intention of doing pretty much what I described above.
EDIT: Either way, the old adage applies. When everyone else is buying, panic. When everyone else is in a panic, buy. Stick to concrete rules. Dont try and ride out rallies in the hopes of squeezing out a few more dollars. If you set a limit to sell at $10, sell at $10. Dont watch it go to $10.50 and wait for $11.00 to come around. There are hundreds of thousands of people doing the same exact thing you are and, in the space of about 3 minutes, your attempt to maximize return can turn into a loss if you get greedy and miss the profit taking window.
Good luck.
Disclaimer: No professional affiliation, not a professional investor, this is not financial advice, etc, etc.
