Update: This contest is now over.

Here is your chance to win big in a single day. Umoo.com is holding a trading contest to see who the best single day trader is.

With $20,000 in cash prizes, this is one of the coolest contests I have seen centered around stock market trading.

As you well know, the market is pretty dicey right now and every day it seems like just about anything can happen. Wouldn’t it be nice to pad that account with some extra cash? On December 17th you’ll have that chance. Spots are limited so register today. you can’t win if you don’t play. Use the banner above to register for your account and enter the contest on December 17th.

UMOO, a new web based platform for Financial Entertainment combining the fun of online multiplayer tournaments with the thrill of the stock markets, announced today the launch of its public Beta. UMOO offers a totally new way to profit from stock market trading via its unique platform, where the trades are virtual, but the winnings are real.

This weekend marked yet another interesting event, the rescue of Citigroup by the US Government. For full disclosure I am hesitant to call it a full-blown rescue mostly because up until the past two weeks Citi was for the most part very well capitalized, even so heading into this weekend. But the sharp collapse in its stock price last week prompted C’s executives to concoct a plan to restore investor confidence in the banking behemoth or suffer unknown dangers.

It’s crunch time in the market. The bears have been dictating market action for months now. The Dow is way off its highs and everyone seems to be panicking at the thought of investing any money in anything. Fear not. There are still good stocks to buy out there and I’m going to tell you why you should buy Diageo (DEO) right now.

Who is Diageo (DEO) and why should I care?

Diageo produces and distributes a collection of branded premium spirits, beer and wine. It produces and distributes a range of premium brands, including Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker Scotch whiskies, Captain Morgan rum, Baileys Original Irish Cream liqueur, JeB scotch whisky, Tanqueray gin and Guinness stout. In addition it also has the distribution rights for the Jose Cuervo tequila brands in the United States and other countries. Diageo’s beer brands include the global stout brand, Guinness.

You should care about this right now because holidays present an opportunity for beverage companies to make a lot of money. With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve so close together, the spending in liquor increases this time of year. So your catalyst here is the holiday season.

Now let’s talk numbers and why I think DEO is too cheap.

Earnings:

Daily Chart:

The Case:

A key factor in determining where a stock like DEO is going is figuring out how earnings dictate stock price. So, here’s my not-so-secret formula (Motley Fool can take credit for this mainly).

First we need to figure out what P/E institutional investors are willing to pay and we do this by figuring out the growth rate. Take the earnings estimate for 2010 and subtract the figure for 2009 (4.97-4.58=.39) then divide that result by the 2009 earnings estimate and multiply by 100 to get the growth rate ((.39/4.58)*100=8.51). Finally, we can assume that institutional investors (hedge funds, mutual funds, etc) are willing to pay 1.5 to 2 times the growth in terms of P/E (8.51*2=17).

Comparing the P/E we have calculated to the current P/E will tell us if the stock is too cheap. Essentially what we are doing here is finding where the stock should be based on future earnings projections, so it’s an estimate but essential for stocks like DEO.

The current P/E (12 month trailing) of DEO is 15.2. Based on this we know DEO is too cheap because it should be 17. Now to figure out where DEO is going, multiply 17 by the current EPS (earnings per share). (17*3.42=58).

Since DEO is just below $52, this is a definite buy according to the numbers. However, that’s not the only reason to buy a stock. We have a catalyst, we have good earnings estimates and lastly, DEO pays a 5.61% yield! A declared dividend of $1.4579 per share means more bang for the buck. This stock is also way off its 52 week high of $92 so the upside is huge. I also like that analysts have recently rated DEO a hold. I like to do the opposite of what analysts say because they are usually wrong or have already missed the boat when it comes to recommending stocks.

You might be tempted to look at other stocks in the sector such as Central European Distributors (CEDC) but I don’t like the numbers. The P/E is extremely low compared to where it should be and the stock is down from a 52 week high of $77 in July of this year. CEDC has been absolutely hammered and even though it has beat estimates 3 out of the last 4 quarters it continued to slide and is only now recovering.

CEDC looks cheaper (in price anyway) but in reality it could end up costing you more than DEO and there’s no yield.

Get ready for the holiday season and buy yourself some DEO.

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I just became aware of a new service that will pay you cash for your timeshare. Those of you that own timeshares know who you are and maybe you are kicking yourself for buying it because now you realize you just can’t get out there to enjoy the vacations you thought you were going to be taking.

Many Americans and Canadians buy timeshares. Some buy as investments, others buy for the sake of having a week or two at a particular resort every year. And many have trouble getting rid of these timeshares.

Timeshare Resale Marketplace can help these timeshare owners unload their timeshares. They can also help those who want to buy or rent these timeshare properties.

• The average timeshare owner is 49 years old.
• 80% of Timeshare owners are married and 80% have 2-4 kids
• 65% of Timeshare Owners have incomes between 50,000 and 150,000
• 40% own more than one timeshare
• 60% of all timeshares are associated with Beach vacations; 20% are associated with Ski Vacations

Maybe you just aren’t interested in keeping the place anymore but haven’t had any luck selling it. Maybe you don’t know what a timeshare really is and are interested in getting more information about them.

If this sounds like you then you should check out Timeshare Resale Marketplace.

Timeshare Resale Marketplace specializes in buying, renting and selling timeshares. A timeshare is basically a condominium that is owned by several people who all get a couple weeks a year to live in the place should they choose to do so.

It is common practice to rent out timeshares in which case the owning party for that time period would recieve compensation. In September of this year, we spent a week in New York (actually Brooklyn) and we rented out a 3 bedroom apartment which was so much nicer than staying in a hotel and so much easier. This is what a timeshare offers you if you are considering renting for a vacation instead of a costly hotel. Timeshares are deeply discounted compared to hotel rates.

Since it can be difficult to find buyers and renters, you might want to have someone handle this process for you and that is exactly what Timeshare Resale Marketplace does.

To find out more information, go to Timeshare Resale Marketplace and fill out a simple form.

As you can see, PI has a new theme. Though I liked the old one, we all need a change now and then and this theme is a little more bold and I think easier to read.

You’ll still get the same ideas and news as always. I’ve been enjoying success with the CNBC Million Dollar Challenge using their Forex trading system.

I wrote about Forex the other day and mentioned that it is risky but the great thing about it is the 24/7 availability to trade currencies and leveraging your money to really have an impact in your trades.

Check out this site for more information about trading Foreign Exchange (Forex):

For many people out there, the idea of winning money doing something a lot of other people seem to be failing at can be tempting. CNBC’s Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge may seem, on the surface like a great way to learn how to trade but it is fundamentally flawed.

The inaugural season of this contest was met with rampant cheating and manipulation which resulted in the contest being cancelled.

The second time around, two “Joe the plumber” type winners emerged. These guys both had a lot of time on their hands and made some very risky plays to win overall. This gets to the heart of why this game is flawed.

First of all, it reinforces the “buy and hold” mentality that has so far failed the market. They have attempted to make this fair by only allowing up to 25% of any given stock to be owned in your portfolio. You can have 5 different portfolios to try out different strategies and attempt to “diversify” but there is one glaring ommission to this entire game.

Where’s the short selling?

Any healthy market is going to have short sellers to balance it out. It gets at the heart of free capitalism (which this game is not). By only being able to buy stocks at the close and sell them at the close of the day, key runs can be entirely missed.

I assume the reason for this is to ward off the “day trader” type but all it really does is prevent one kind of strategy being employed.

Forex = Gambling?

To make things worse, they’ve thrown in the ability to trade currencies. Currency trading is a leverage system. You buy units of a currency that equal a certain number of shares of that currency to trade and hope the price goes up (on a buy order) or hope the price goes down (on a sell order). Either way, it’s basically just a gamble. Currencies are even harder to predict than stock prices but at least they trade 24/7 which means you can battle your insomnia by staring at the refreshing numbers on your screen in the Forex section of your portfolio.

Gains in currency are made in small incrmemnts. you aren’t likely to see a currency change from $1.50 USD for example to $2.00. Those just don’t happen. These trade in “pips” which are points based on the 4th decimal place in the value of the currency.

I actually like trading fictional currency but it’s still essentially random. Today I bought EUR/USD at 1.24432 and have a limit order to sell at 1.24533. On 1,000 units ($100k USD) I stand to net around $1480.00 which isn’t bad considering the time it takes to make it. You have to trade like this many many times over to really make money doing it though.

That being said, it’s still gambling and still random and really not how I would invest real money. The other problem with the game is your buying and selling don’t actually influence the stock price and you can only trade companies with a value over $500m. That rules out most small caps and all microcaps. Sorry, no pennystock trading here.

All in all, I think it’s great for novice investors to learn the ins and outs of buying and selling stocks but its no way to trade or invest for real.

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Investing isn’t always easy and predicting market moves is nearly impossible. If it was easy, everyone would be rich from trading stocks. Sadly, most people lose money month in and month out buying stocks at random and hoping the market goes up. This isn’t a strategy, it’s more like gambling. Talk to the average person and they will tell you the stock market is risky and is basically gambling. For most people this is true.

For Timothy Sykes, however, it couldn’t be farther from the truth. In under a year, TIm has gone back to his trading roots to prove that ANYONE can make money in the stock market. He’s come out full force with an amazing DVD set, written a great book called An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund and is hard at work on more instructional DVDS due to be released soon.

Year to date, Tim is up 175% (verified on Covestor) on his trades in microcap companies that trade on the American Stock Exchanges, Pink Sheets and OTC Bulletin Boards. In other words, Penny Stocks.

What Are Penny Stocks?

Penny Stocks are those securities that trade between $1 and $10. His success is in his DVDs. Following his instructions in the DVDs can get you the same results trade after trade. By choosing highily volitile stocks with lots of liquidity he has figured out the perfect chart patterns that time and time again prove to work.

For a limited time you can preorder PennyStocking Part Deux for a 10% discount or buy the original PennyStocking DVD to learn everything Tim has to teach. If you want to trade with Tim side by side and replicate his results when he trades, sign up for TimAlerts. Each morning Tim is going to make a trade he sends out an alert about it so you can get in on the action. Don’t take my word for it, read all the testimonials on his site. Some of his subscribers have already banked tens of thousands of dollars this year.

What’s In It For Me?

As an added bonus, the first 10 people to order either PennyStocking or TimAlerts will each receive a Visa Gift Card valued at $25. I am so confident you are going to make money with TIm’s strategies, I am willing to literally give you $25 for buying his DVD. You not only get a great instructional DVD (I know because I have watched it) you’ll also get an autographed copy of his book An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund.

PennyStocking or TimAlerts

• PennyStocking DVD or TimAlerts Subscription
• A $25 Visa Gift Card
• A signed copy of An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund
• Proven strategies that can help you make thousands, if not millions in the stock market.

This is no fluffy get rich quick scheme here folks. This is a real DVD that has proven strategies to make money trading stocks that everyone in the financial industry says you can’t. What are you waiting for?

With recent news of the Venezuelan government taking back control of Las Cristinas Mine, the primary gold deposit Crystallex International (KRY) owned the rights to, the company reported continued operating losses and the closure of several mines. Shares were up $.01 in intraday trading.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

• Cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2008 were $44.6 million.
• Assuming expenditures at approximately the reduced rate following cost reductions in the first three quarters of 2008, the Company forecasts that it will have cash to fund its operations until the fourth quarter of 2009 (see “Liquidity and Capital Resources”).

At the end of September 2008, the Company ceased mining at the Tomi and La Victoria mines due to the handover of the Revemin mill to Minerven, a Venezuelan State-owned company, which was effective October 1, 2008. Subsequent to October 1, 2008, the entire mill operating employees at Revemin and some of the mining employees accepted offers of employment with Minerven. The Company paid Minerven compensation for all severance costs relating to those employees who were assumed by Minerven and is in the process of terminating most of the remaining mining employees. The Company is also in discussions with Minerven regarding the return of the Tomi and La Victoria properties to the State and finalizing mine closure obligations.

Financial Performance

• Loss from continuing operations was $25.3 million ($0.09 per share) including $2.9 million of unrealized foreign exchange loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2008. Loss from continuing operations was $1.6 million ($0.01 per share) including $5.8 million of unrealized foreign exchange gain for the three months ended September 30, 2008.
• Loss from discontinued operations at El Callao was $3.5 million and $6.0 million for nine months and three months ended September 30, 2008, respectively.
• Expenditures were $17.0 million and $4.3 million on Las Cristinas for the nine months and three months ended September 30, 2008, respectively.

Clothing retailer Quiksliver (ZQK) completed its sale of Rossignol for $40M Euros. Sales of Rossignol apparel and winter accessories hadn’t been performing as well as the company expected over the past 2 years since Acquiring the french company. To cut costs and shore up budget problems, Quiksilver decided to sell Rossignol and use the capital for other purposes.

Here’s the full story:

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Nov 13, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Quiksilver, Inc. (ZQK, Trade ) today announced that it had closed the sale of the “Rossignol Group” to Chartreuse & Mont Blanc. The transaction resulted from Quiksilver’s initiative, announced in January 2008, to sell Rossignol in order to reduce its exposure to the winter sports equipment manufacturing business. The sale, which was effective as of November 12, 2008, carried a transaction value of 40 million, comprised of 30 million in cash and a 10 million Seller’s Note. Net proceeds will be used to reduce indebtedness.

Robert B. McKnight, Jr., Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive and President of Quiksilver, Inc., commented, “The completion of this sale represents the culmination of our efforts to eliminate our exposure to hardgoods manufacturing. We’re delighted that we can now return to our roots, do what we do best and once again fully concentrate our efforts on our core apparel and footwear brands Quiksilver, Roxy and DC.”

In December 2007, Quiksilver sold the Roger Cleveland Golf Company to SRI Sports Limited in a transaction valued at $132.5 million. The “Rossignol Group” included Roger Cleveland Golf when Quiksilver acquired it in July 2005.

It seems the market appears to be a bit more calmer than they were during October. Yes we are still having wild swings in the market, and a 3o0 point swing is common. But we are not seeing new lows and the VIX hit new all-time highs.

As many of you know, I was bullish on the recent developments in Venezuela regarding Crystallex International (KRY) and the Las Cristinas gold deposits for which they owned exclusive rights to through 2012.

Today, news from the MIBAM (Mining Ministry of Venezuela) indicated that the Venezuelan government would be taking control of the mine and all operations.

According to Crystallex they have had no such contact with the officials at the MIBAM and are requesting formal documents clarifying the intentions of the Venezuelan government.

So far, Crystallex has complied in every way possible with the requests of the department of the interior in Venezuela as well as the MIBAM and so the news comes as a shock and surprise to the company.

I suspect this is rumor meant to agitate an already delicate situation and so far has been successful in causing havoc to the stock price.

This is one of my speculative ventures that really is contingent on this mine opening. Should the news and rumors prove true, KRY may not recover for some time. This project has great importance to the future of Crystallex and stands to benefit the local communities surrounding the mine as well. We should know more in the coming days. I expect the price to stabilize somewhere between $.30 and $.50 as has been the case in the past few weeks.

It is your duty, and your right as an American citizen to vote. Whether or not you believe the same things as me, just get out and vote. Every vote counts! Get out and speak your mind by voting, or forever hold your piece. At least for the next 4 years.