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.

Every once in awhile I just break all of my rules.  (And I usually regret it as well!)

I wanted to report on my latest indiscretion.  Meridian (VIVO) a holding of mine reported today.  Latest sales for the third quarter increased 11%.  EPS came in at $.19/share, down from $.22/share, but last year included a tax benefit of $2.4 million.  Taking this out it worked out to $.19/share this year vs. $.16/share a year ago.

Anyhow, the market has absolutely taken this stock apart.

Daring to go into the jaws of this awful negative momentum, I purchased 2,000 shares of VIVO a few moments ago at an average cost of $23.99/share.  As I write, VIVO has already slipped BELOW this price, currently trading at $23.81/share, down $(4.93) or (17.15)% on the day.

I think this is way overdone.

I am trying to think rationally in the face of apparent market madness.

That can be a recipe for failure for me.  But I shall put my contrarian hat on, hold my nose, and keep you posted.

Wish me luck.

And probably wish me better discipline at following my own rules.  I guess that is what defines me as an amateur after all.

And I did it on margin .

Last 5 posts by Bob Freedland

• National Oilwell Varco (NOV) "Trading Transparency" - October 19th, 2008
• Coach (COH), Ecolab (ECL), Newell Rubbermaid (NWL), and ResMed (RMD) "Trading Transparency" - October 14th, 2008
• Citigroup (C) "Trading Transparency" - September 21st, 2008
• Quality Systems (QSII) and Robbins & Myers (RBN) "Trading Transparency" - September 11th, 2008
• Johnson Controls (JCI) "Trading Transparency" - September 4th, 2008