Investing in Vietnam

New locations are emerging as investment hot spots, Vietnam is one of these places. "In an interview Wednesday, Søren Skou, head of the container-shipping division of Denmark's A.P. Møller Maersk A/S, said the Chinese market is facing fundamental changes. "It's pretty clear China is losing competitiveness in a number of industries," he said, adding that China is "by far the most important market for what we do." Maersk's customers who ship shoes, toys and other labor-intensive goods are increasingly located in countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, he added." Vietnam is open for investment through the Vietnam market index (VNM). This author is long VNM at $16.75.

Apple: Too easy

The Apple Iphone 5 is scheduled for introduction on Sept 9. The company, before this new product cycle, is selling at 10x forward earnings and growing at a declining 30% rate. 10%+ of market cap in cash on hand. Too cheap. Bought $650 April 2013 calls Sold $655 April 2013 calls at a net debit of $2.4. Looks simple.

Get a piece of the Borg: Buy ACN

When the author was in technology consulting, the premier delivery firm was Anderson Consulting, now called Accenture. The people all looked the same. The delivery tools were always canned and consistent. It was so uniform it was like the Star Trek community called the Borg. And they always delivered. That is right, I started a sentence with 'and'.

I have no idea why one of the largest US government contract technology firms in the US can move their headquarters offshore to Ireland to avoid taxes and have any repercussions. In fact, their revenues have just compounded.

The author is buying ACN at $62.45.

Apple should be $600 / share

Apple is a steamroller. Unstoppable. It should be trading at $600/share right now. Plus the Ipad 3 is coming out and the author sees Ipads becoming an executive "must have".

The author has entered the following position.

Buy Apple Oct $555 Call $47.65
Sell Apple Oct $560 Call $45.30

Let me show you what has made me go crazy about Apple.

Here is the deal, all last year it was making $6B a quarter for a total of $27B revenue (average) / $6B in earnings growing at 40% rate.

Then came the new Iphone 4S last quarter, and then in one quarter it went to $46B revenue / $13B in earnings in one quarter. That blew the hinges off of any previous valuation. Assuming no growth and continued earnings they will make $52B in earnings this year and thus with a $470B market cap sell at less than 10 X earnings. Now think of the fact that they have $80B in cash on the balance sheet and they are selling at 8 X earnings.

If we get into normal valuations of 20 X earnings against 40% growth this is a $1T stock.

All this and the iPhone is still limited to 10% of the population in China because they have only one carrier, like the AT&T deal from two years ago.

This said, the stock has run really far really fast and should plateau for a bit. But it is going up from here.

Regeneron : Great portfolio of molecules

Regeneron has one of the best pipeline of new molecules. Despite the criticism the author believes there is significant upside.

The author has purchased Regeneron (REGN) at $88.24.

Ecopetrol: The Petrobras of the future

Ecopetrol is a buy. The Colombian state owned energy company found massive, easily recoverable reserves. The earnings growth rate is tremendous for this company and it can actually increase as more wells come online.

Moreover, Colombia is a much more attractive place to invest than just a few years ago.

"Per capita GDP in Columbia has doubled since 2002, largely due to increased investor confidence in the country’s political stability. Columbia has seen a 90% drop in kidnappings and a 46% decline in murders over the past ten years."

What better pitch for a company is that?

The author bought at $50.50.

Sherwin Williams: First step of a housing recovery

When home maintenance is done, the first major improvement to the cosmetic appeal is a can of paint. Thus with the bottoming of housing starts and a spike in remodeling permits (see graph below), it may be time to buy a paint company.

Sherwin Williams is the top paint supplier in the US. The sales at their paint stores are growing at a 7.8% rate and margins are expanding. The dividend is stable and should have room for growth with new sales growth.

The author will buy Sherwin Williams at $87/share.