Of all the companies I have been most interested in over the years, two stand out: BNI and CVX.
I've talked about BNI before; it was one of the first, if not the first, company in which I bought shares when I started investing more than 30 years ago. And then Warren Buffett bought the company.
I first bought shares in Texaco when it filed for bankruptcy back in 1987, and have accumulated shares in that company over the past 25 years. I remember when it was the most despised major oil company. I don't remember the specifics, but it stands out because ... well, I forget why it stands out except to say that it's been interesting to watch companies fall in and out of favor. And it seems CHX has fallen out of favor more often than not.
Right now, kind of decompressing for the evening, the grandchildren are in bed after a long, exhausting day, I took a look at CVX at the Yahoo Finance site. Here are the headlines (okay, the links):
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/joanlappin/2012/07/30/cost-effective-u-s-and-world-energy-resources-are-evolving-away-from-nuclear-and-toward-natural-gas/?partner=yahootix
- http://beta.fool.com/acardenal/2012/07/30/five-high-quality-dividend-stocks-buy-now/8169/?ticker=PG&source=eogyholnk0000001
- http://seekingalpha.com/article/763131-blue-chip-is-the-new-alpha?source=yahoo
- http://www.thestreet.com/story/11644927/1/chevron-corp-cvx-todays-featured-energy-winner.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
- http://beta.fool.com/anirbandutta/2012/07/30/no-2-follows-no-1/8102/?ticker=CVX&source=eogyholnk0000001
- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-30/chevron-delays-lianzi-production-date-cuts-output.html?cmpid=yhoo
- http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/07/30/chevrons-clearly-your-best-big-oil-bet.aspx
Next week, we'll probably see a series of headlines telling us why CVX is a dog and needs to be sold. But tonight, I'm feeling pretty good. Let's see what another long-term holding, XOM, is doing. I started buying shares in Exxon just weeks before the Valdez incident.
CVX is selling near it all-time high and pays a dividend of 3.3% and significantly more to some buyers depending on when they bought their shares.
********************
A Note for the Granddaughters
Yesterday, with out-of-town guests, we were exploring the Pacific Coast along the Palos Verdes peninsula, the southernmost peninsula of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
About 3:00 p.m., the granddaughters were getting hungry and we wouldn't be eating dinner until about 6:00. We were close to Starbucks and to Subway (and to The Yellow Vase) at Golden Cove, along the coast, on Palos Verdes "road" along the coast. We considered either Starbucks or Subway, but one of the out-of-town guests had never seen a Trader Joe's. What a great opportunity. I pretty much let the grandchildren pick whatever they wanted (mostly fruit) and then we went outside to find a place to eat. There really wasn't anything in the immediate area. I considered (briefly) the bus bench; buses tend not to run very often in this part of the neighborhood and my hunch was we could have sat there for an extended period without confusing any bus driver. But then I spied an American flag, and a building down along the coast, and remembered there was a whale-viewing area and a "whale" museum in that area. Wow.
We jumped in the van, and drove the two minutes down to Point Vicente Interpretative Center. This was on a Sunday. There was parking. There was a green park with empty picnic tables. There were a fair number of people, but not too many. It could not have been more perfect.
We ate our fruit and yes, some potato chips for me, and then went over to the interpretative center. It turns out this has been their best year in ten years (based on the 10-year average) for whale sightings.
And, then, we heard that there were about six blue whales off the point, easily seen without binoculars but better with "spyglasses." I ran back to the van; got the glasses, and the six of us enjoyed watching the six of them (the blue whales). They were blowing from their spouts every few seconds. Earlier in the day, folks said they had seen a sperm whale, quite unusual, they say, for this point, this time of the year. We only saw blue whales. At 5:00 p.m. the museum closed, and I guess they "brought in" the whales.
So, if you find yourself hungry anywhere along the Palos Verdes "road," stop at Trader Joe's, pick up some very inexpensive items, and then head over to the Point Vincente Interpretative Center. I'm sure everyone in the area has been doing this for years, but some of us are just catching on.