Markets Making A Monkey Out of You?

If you’ve ever felt like the markets were making a monkey out of you – you might want to consider keeping an eye on the stock picks of Adam Monk.

Monk (not to be confused with the obsessive detective of the USA television show) works for the Chicago Sun-Times. He picks stocks, and he reportedly has a winning track record over the past four years. He’s not obsessed with money. In fact, he works for peanuts…and bananas, among other things.

Monk happens to be a cerebus monkey, and he serves as the inspiration for the Sun-Times Monkey Manager stock-picking contest, “celebrating the wisdom of the everyday investor and primate.’

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Monk’s a bit of a traditionalist in his stock-picking approach. At 35, he still crawls over newspaper stock pages and marks his five favorites with a pen. And, according to the Sun-Times, in the four years since Monk has chaired and inspired the Sun-Times stock-picking contest, his stocks have posted annual returns that beat the major indexes each time – earning 37%, 36%, 3%, and last year, 36%.

His picks for 2007? Health care looms large, he apparently has an eye on ladies’ fashions – and he even has an exchange-traded fund in the lot. However odd the apparent combination, it’s hard to argue with his track record.

Here’s the lot:

  • Cygne Designs
    Ticker: CYDS
    Business: Women’s clothes
  • Fresh Del Monte Produce
    Ticker: FDP
    Business: Fresh fruits, vegetables
  • West Pharmaceutical Services
    Ticker: WST
    Business: Health care packaging, testing
  • American Medical Systems Holdings
    Ticker: AMMD
    Business: Urological disorder devices
  • Market 200 HOLDRS
    Ticker: MKH
    Business: Shares of 50 large-caps

Equity Comp Site Unveils Special Adviser Access Level

An equity compensation Web site has created a new adviser membership level that can help you better track and model stock options grants for your clients.

A news release from myStockOptions.com said MSO Pro members can use data-entry wizards to enter their clients’ grant information into the portfolio tracker. Once they have entered the data, they can switch between clients when using the calculators and modeling tools, which let advisers crunch numbers and run projections, according to the company.

Advisers can communicate with clients in various ways, including customizable PDF reports and an online portal (myCompanyStock.com) where advisers can let selected clients view their grant records and use calculators and modeling tools themselves, according to the announcement.

Results graphically show a range of data, including net gains, exercise costs, and taxes. Advisers can then compare net gains at different stock prices and tax rates and print PDF reports, the company said

In a special tool called Scenarios, available only for MSO Pro Members, advisers can save results from the tools, storing various strategies for later review. They can save the stock price and as-of date that they entered or change them to current values every time they view the scenario.

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With the e-mail alert notices from the myAlerts tool, advisers can schedule automatic notifications for themselves and/or their clients to remind them of vesting dates, alert them to target stock values, and warn about upcoming expiration dates. Daily, weekly, or monthly e-mail summaries of stock grants can also be scheduled, according to the press release.

MSO Pro Members have access to myStockOptions.com’s library of content on stock options, restricted stock/RSUs, stock appreciation rights, employee stock purchase plans, and related topics in taxation and wealth management. A 20-question quiz offers six credits of continuing education for CFPs, according to the news release.

For questions about myStockOptions.com, contact Bruce Brumberg or Matt Simon at 617-734-1979.

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