Mr. Monk, with the Chicago Sun Times, has beaten the market four years running. (Note -- Mr. Monk is the one on the left -- the one without the tie)
Primal picks
Primal picks
(http://www.suntimes.com/business/roeder/208997,CST-FIN-curious14.article)
January 14, 2007
BY DAVID ROEDER Sun-Times Columnist
This year, Mr. Adam Monk, the Sun-Times' stock-picking monkey who has beaten the market for four years running, is into erectile dysfunction. He's also into syringes, women's clothes and fresh fruit and vegetables. But don't get the wrong idea.
These are the businesses of Mr. Monk's latest stock picks, made last week exclusively for the Sun-Times. And that means only one thing: It's time again for the Sun-Times Monkey Manager stock-picking contest, celebrating the wisdom of the everyday investor and primate.
Yes, despite all you hear about consolidation and cost-cutting in the Mainstream Media, with its Incredible Shrinking Newspapers, here we are back with the contest this year, and again with a fabulous prize for the reader who guesses the top-gaining stock of 2007. It's from Apple Vacations, America's Favorite Vacation Company, and details run alongside this story.
To get the stock-guessing juices flowing, I visited Mr. Monk last week at his natural habitat, Animal Rentals Inc., 5742 W. Grand. The senior-citizen cebus monkey crawled over newspaper stock pages (yes, we found some!) arrayed on a desk, and marked his five favorites with a pen. It's now a time-honored ritual, documented by a Sun-Times photographer and the accounting firm Howard, Fine & Howard.
His selections are included in an accompanying table. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that Mr. Monk, progressive as ever, is trying something new. One of his stocks isn't a stock at all, strictly speaking. It's an exchange-traded fund, Market 2000 HOLDRS Trust (MKH), which represents shares of the 50 largest-cap companies.
"It's going to be a big year for that part of the market," Mr. Monk told this reporter. "I had this pathetic intern working for me, and I told him to go buy me some large caps. He came back with this boxload of incredibly ugly cheesehead things. So I got into that market with this ETF."
His other picks include companies in pharmaceutical supplies (the syringes) and medical devices (for sundry pelvic issues), historically two of Mr. Monk's favorite sectors. Rounding out his portfolio are Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (FDP) and ladies' apparel maker Cygne Designs Inc. (CYDS).
The latter two stocks had really bad years in 2006, but Mr. Monk insisted they are bouncing back. "Any monkey knows you can't go wrong with bananas and pineapples," he said. "Cygne makes jeans and skimpy tops for teenagers. Believe me, it's not spending much on material."
Mr. Monk invited readers to follow his stocks all year, with updates in the Sun-Times and at www.sun times.com, and to top his performance by submitting a stock for the contest.
In the four years since Mr. Monk has chaired and inspired this contest, his stocks have posted annual returns of 37 percent, 36 percent, 3 percent and, in 2006, 36 percent, beating the major indexes every time. It's proof that you don't have to be an insider CEO, an insider hedge-fund manager or a loudmouth on CNBC to make money in the market.
Our readers have responded to his example with stock picks that gained 100 percent, 200 percent and way higher. So take your best shot again this year.
Mr. Monk is with you all the way, while also tending to his latest venture, as previously reported. He has founded a company to produce the next generation in camera-, phone-, Internet-, music- and game-linked devices that will provide you with every technological convenience while recording your every move to build the most massive consumer database known to man. It is nothing less than a campaign for global domination.
It's called Private Eye Electronic Products (PEEP) and Mr. Monk gave me the latest update.
"We're going after Steve Jobs with our new device, the iPEEP. We're also launching our version of the BlackBerry, only it will be for the late adopters of technology. We call it the ElderBerry. And I have responded to the City of Chicago's call for proposals on offering free Wi-Fi access to everybody."
That sounds exciting, I said.
Mr. Monk hesitated. "I'm not too sure about the city," he said. "I went to my alderman and said I want to offer free Wi-Fi. My alderman -- he's up there in years a bit -- said, 'Whaa . . . you want a free hi-fi?' Trust me, there's a steep learning curve with the city on this whole thing."
I told Mr. Monk that I was amazed by his new ideas and ventures. Why, I asked, does he do this when, at age 35, he's geriatric for a cebus monkey and could retire on all the laurels and riches he's gained for his stock expertise?
"It's all a matter of challenging yourself," he said, "and of taking what's out there and improving it. For example, there's Donald Trump and his show, 'The Apprentice.' That whole franchise is obviously failing. So I've signed as senior producer of a new show where people compete to serve my organization and replace that pathetic intern who bought the cheeseheads. I call the show 'The Pathetic Interns.' And you'll love my twist on the concept."
What's the twist?
"I signed that Hilton woman to star in it. She'll lord it over the contestants in a vaguely dominatrix sort of way."
Imagine that, I said. You signed Paris Hilton?
"No, no. She's got a sister, a real up-and-comer. Stockholm Hilton. She got the brain genes in the family."
What channel will carry the show?
"For Mr. Monk, there's only one. Animal Planet."
Here are Mr. Adam Monk's stock selections for 2007
Cygne Designs
Ticker: CYDS
Business: Women’s clothes
Friday's close: $2.30
Percent return in last 52 weeks: -53.1
Comment: Accounting woes hurt results
Fresh Del Monte Produce
Ticker: FDP
Business: Fresh fruits, veggies
Friday's close: 14.90
Percent return in last 52 weeks: -33.2
Comment: Ongoing losses kill dividend
West Pharmaceutical Services
Ticker: WST
Business: Health care packaging, testing
Friday's close: 48.19
Percent return in last 52 weeks: +66.5
Comment: Profit growth may flat-line
American Medical Systems Holdings
Ticker: AMMD
Business: Urological disorder devices
Friday's close: 19.91
Percent return in last 52 weeks: -2.2
Comment: Erectile Dysfunction R Us
Market 200 HOLDRS
Ticker: MKH
Business: Shares of 50 large-caps
Friday's close: 62.41
Percent return in last 52 weeks: +14.8
Comment: Big-caps in big comeback?
Contests have rules (here are ours)
It's time to test your skills against the investment prowess of Mr. Adam Monk, the primate of portfolio performance. Enter the Sun-Times Monkey Manager stock-picking contest, 2007 edition!
Send us your favorite stock, and we'll track it all year. You'll win the contest if your stock has the greatest price appreciation of all entries.
You could win a fabulous prize. It's from Apple Vacations, America's Favorite Vacation Company. It's a seven-night trip for two to Gran Bahia Principe Tulum in Riviera Maya, Mexico!
Here are the rules:
• Send us a pick of one stock via e-mail or regular mail. The stock must be listed on a U.S. market and trade for at least $5 a share as of Jan. 1, 2007.
• The winner is the stock with the biggest price appreciation in 2007. Dividends don't count. If your stock stops trading, such as because of a merger, it is disqualified. Stocks that had their debut after Jan. 1, 2007, are ineligible.
• Tell us your name, the name of your stock and the ticker symbol. Provide your address, daytime phone number and e-mail address.
• For a tiebreaker (for multiple readers picking the same stock), tell us where the Dow Jones industrial average will close at the end of 2007. Closest guess wins.
• E-mail must arrive by 5 p.m. Jan. 22, 2007. Send it to monkey@suntimes.com, with "Monkey Manager" in the subject header. Regular mail must be postmarked by Jan. 22, 2007. Send to: Monkey Manager, Chicago Sun-Times Business Section, 350 N. Orleans, Chicago 60654.
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