Schwab Weighs in on Our Porfolio, and We're Still Not Making the Grade

It’s time once again to review our grades, that is, your Cheap Stocks editor's portfolio as "graded" by Charles Schwab's stock rating system. We ran a similar column 11/18/06, and our grades were miserable.

This is not to denigrate Schwab, or their rating system. We've had a Charles Schwab account for years, and their service has been outstanding. Plus it's natural that their rating system would cater to the more common names, where there's actually data available, and liquidity (unlike many of the names in our portfolio).

Our Report Card
4Kids Entertainment(KDE): D
Avoca Inc (AVOA): NC
Bactolac Pharmaceuticals (BTCP): NC
Biloxi Marsh Lands Corp (BLMC): NC
Cubist Pharmaceuticals: C (underlying Stock) (Jan 2009 12.5 LEAPS-CALLS)
JG Boswell (BWEL): NC
Gallery of History (HIST): NC
Kitty Hawk(KHK): D
Lazare Kaplan Intl (LKI): NC
Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP): F
Pennwest Energy (PWE): NC
PICO Holdings (PICO): NC
Plum Creek Timber (PCL): NC
Sonic Foundry (SOFO): NC
Southwest Water (SWWC): D
St. Joes (JOE): C
Tejon Ranch (TRC): D
Tootsie Roll (TR): C
Vermont Pure Holdings (VPS): NC

Names in italics: Research in previous postings
Names bolded: New to Portfolio since previous report card

In summary, our grade point average is still a D, with 3 C's, 4 D's, 1 F, and 12 incompletes (NC), about the same as last time.

Positions Closed Since Last Report Card:
Jones Soda(JSDA)