Monday, July 16, 2007

Hot Tip #1

Not that many years ago, being a typical stockbroker meant passing along hot tips to clients. Give the client "sizzle" over the phone (The company's earnings are taking off; the company's about to be acquired; the Big Boys are buying it up) and then sell them the steak, earn a commission. The business is changing, I'll admit, with more and more brokers turning themselves into money managers, collecting client assets for the investment company to manage. No more hot tips.

But where's the fun in that? I say, let's gamble!

I talked to some stockbroker buddies over the weekend and here's my pick for the best Hot Tip this week: TGC Industries on the American Stock Exchange. TGE is the stock's symbol. The company primarily conducts three-dimensional surveys for clients in the oil and gas business. TGC also provides seismic data acquisition services throughout the continental United States. The company is headquartered in Plano, Texas.

I'm going to buy 100 shares this morning at the opening. It closed Friday at $11.20. According to the Hot Tipper I talked to, I am looking for a $1 to $1.50 gain this week.

Let's see what happens. I'll keep track of this and future Hot Tips in the right hand column.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to give you the sizzle. Rumors of a buyout will push the stock to $13.

(Full disclosure: This kind of tip is a typical tout's. The guy who started this rumor probably wants to sell a huge block of TGE this week, and the only way he can find enough buyers is to spead rumors about it's impending acquisition. It's the best tip I heard only because the competition was worse.)

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