CBI

[xboilermaker]

I had the opportunity to work for this company for 8 years til 1980, and know that their field formen and pushers get bonuses for productivity (more cost savings = bigger bonus). Jubak mentioned CBI last week, and not mentioned was the fact that since they bought PDM (still not sure how they came out with the FTC suit), they now have the water towers and storage tanks sewed up along with the things Jubak mentioned. A caller inquired on Mad Money a month ago, and Cramer steered her to another company, can't remember which. I'm just hoping for a little pullback. Any others out there familiar with this stock, what do you think?

[xboilermaker]

Have done more checking and comparing, and find that this stock could have been a windfall to anyone, and I realize that Cramer says not to buy and hold, but Jan 2001, if I had put the $10,000 initial funding for my account 100% in Chicago Bridge & Iron, my portfolio would now stand at a cool 80 grand. And on the same 5year growth chart, I compared many good stocks to it, and only PDC came half way to the 800% mark. Also, except for a 1month spike in the year 2000, you can pick any point and a year later from that point, it was up significantly.
Instead, I have always tried to listen to this analyst and that, and after funding an additional $5000 last year, have yet to reach 20,000 at any time.
If CBI comes in just a little more (which is likely, for it was up 10%+ after Q2 report), I'm going to grab it for my largest holding.
With all these gas liquification terminals needing to be built (necessary to make it liquid before loading on ships), and all the other things they do so well, I think I'll do okay. Happy investing, all.

[xboilermaker]

My best day ever. Nearly $500 so far on my CBI alone. Everything up big except for that !@#@! SHLD.

[helk]

Glad to hear your having success. Make sure you're ringing the register on CBI at these prices. I may be wrong, but I wouldn't expect CBI to move past 30 without taking a nice break first. This stock has been pretty volatile over the past year so stay on top of it.

[xboilermaker]

To the contrary Helk, had my limit order in at 25.50 all last week, finally hit Friday. I see what Cramer means now, because I WANTED it to come down. My average price on three hundred was at 26.42, now my average on five hundred is only 26.05. Just got another contract for $130,000,000 plus in United Arab Emirates. Go CBI!

[deepinwonder]

I have stock in PDC, it's on First Call's analysts highest rated stock picks, but Cramer never mentions it. CHK owns 10% of PDC's stock, too.

[xboilermaker]

I picked up some PDC last week also, so far so good. I can not comprehend why I still am holding this SHLD, though, other than hating to accept my loss.

[deepinwonder]

Cramer didn't mention a lot of things about SHLD that investors should be aware of, when he was pumping it up for his charitable trust. Be careful. :evil:

You probably got PDC at a better price than I did. I bought it too high, right before profit taking. Not sure what I'm going to do about it, yet.

[xboilermaker]

Got my 200 at 14.90, trying to sell at 15.30. (put in limit order just a few minutes ago). Trying to free up funds to buy CDIS.

[deepinwonder]

I just sold mine, too, for 15.40. I got in at 15.85, but I didn't have that many, so it wasn't much of a setback. I am kicking myself for not buying OII and CDIS, after I posted about those two on here. TSO, too. You know, holding onto stocks that are worrisome or sluggish causes a lot of distraction and extra expense, because it keeps me from jumping into better ones when I should. Have to change the way I'm doing things.

[deepinwonder]

I guess I could have gotten more for it, but who knew after it only went up three cents on a day like yesterday? lol It's still worth getting rid of for me, feels good to move on!

[xboilermaker]

I was tempted to get the SHLD shackles off me today, but impatience has been what caused me the most losses early on. I remember how bad it feels to rid yourself something, only to watch it take off, which happened a couple of times as if on que, instantly. Getting harder to have faith in this one, though. Have to remind myself how fast it got above $160 right after buying. (at 148) Should have listened to Cramer and got 1, and another share each time it dropped, in which case I would be loaded with more than the 20 I have now, lol.

[deepinwonder]

Maybe SHLD will have a run up in sympathy with MSO, when Martha goes on tv, since everyone knows they sell her stuff in there.

[xboilermaker]

Seems like I am the only person in the world enthuastic about this stock, but some of you energy enthusiasts that have a half hour should listen to the Bank of America conference presentation by Gerald Glenn, the CEO. I would post the link if I knew how to copy and paste, but maybe someday. cbi.com>investor relations tab>presentations and webcasts>Bank of America conferance presentation>player type.

[deepinwonder]

Did someone say energy? It does sound interesting, xboilermaker, I'll have to check into it further. Does CBI do any of the same things as HAL does? I found this profile of them on Yahoo, when you first mentioned it, I thought they probably built iron bridges or something, wasn't sure how hot that could be, haha:

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. operates as an engineering, procurement, and construction company. It offers conceptual design, engineering, procurement, fabrication, field erection, mechanical installation, and commissioning services. The company’s projects include hydrocarbon processing plants, liquefied natural gas terminals and peak shaving plants, offshore structures, pipelines, bulk liquid terminals, water storage and treatment facilities, and other steel structures and associated systems. Chicago Bridge & Iron Company also provides repair and maintenance services, including turnarounds for petroleum refining and petrochemical plants. It serves customers in various industries, including oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical, power, water and wastewater, and metals and mining. The company was founded in 1889 by Horace E. Horton and is based in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands.

[xboilermaker]

CBI has evolved as the energy climate has changed, and if they didn't have the expertise to be on the cutting edge of a hot market, then they made aquisitions to integrate into their business plan. For example, when you drive by a nuclear power plant, chances are that they built the containment vessel (the building with the domed roof) because they built more than anyone. Now is a different day, and they have the capability to build everything from the wellhead, to refine it, to the pipeline, to the gasoline terminal in your region. And because they aim for competitive execution, not amount of billing hours, complete projects more efficiently than anyone. I can't help believing that in this crunch we are in, their efficiency will win out. After I left CBI because I wanted to be close to home, I worked on a 5 month project in the nuclear plant in Bridgeman,MI, and a year and a half project at a coal-fired plant in West Olive,MI, and it was criminal the way those cost-plus projects operate. J A Jones(now a Fluor co.) and Townsend & Bottum have (never mind, I go there) because I don't want a slander suit 25 years later. Anyway, I won't be stupid like before Katrina and put over half my portfolio in CBI (and getting lucky $$$$) but I intend to get back in, resetting my limit $1 higher to 30.

[deepinwonder]

They didn't make those nuclear containment vessels that had cracks in them, did they? I remember that from a while back, they had to shut down the nuke plant in OR because of it, other plants had that same problem.