IRA Investing: Finally Making Money

Last week I sold my position in Open Text (OTEX Quote) because I had held that stock for seven months and it no longer appeared on my screening system as a buy. I also sold one half of my position in Life Sciences Research (LSR Quote) because a combination of appreciation by that stock and a decline in the median company valuation of the research services industry left LSR looking fairly valued at current price levels.

I was unable to identify any individual stocks to buy so I added to my position in S&P 500 Depository Receipts (SPY Quote). Because of my inability to find new individual stocks to buy, I now have about 45% of my total portfolio in this ETF.

The energy-related stocks that I do own were again the stars last week. Complete Petroleum Services (CPX Quote) was up 12.3%, Stone Energy (SGY Quote) was up 9.6% and Helmerich & Payne (HP Quote) was up 9.5%. The first two still seem to be very attractive when compared to industry median valuation but HP looks to be approaching fair value and I rate it a hold.

Technology stocks were also strong last week, leading to nice increases in Rofin Sinar Technologies (RSTI Quote), which was up 8.6%, and Sybase (SY Quote), which was up 7.9%. I continue to think that RSTI is fairly valued and that SY is attractive for purchase.

The table that follows shows all the current holdings in my IRA as of last week:

Symbol	Name	Purchase Date	Cost	Price	Gain
Regular Holdings
CALM	Cal-Maine Foods	4/16/2007	$13.30	$28.94	117.59%
CPX	Complete Production Services	3/27/2008	$22.37	$26.03	16.36%
EXAC	Exactech	11/5/2007	$21.00	$26.83	27.76%
GIB	CGI Group	3/9/2007	$8.52	$11.92	39.91%
HP	Helmerich & Payne	12/27/2007	$39.88	$56.53	41.75%
ISYS	Integral Systems	3/5/2008	$25.90	$29.86	15.29%
LSR	Life Sciences Research	3/11/2008	$24.22	$27.97	15.48%
RSTI	Rofin Sinar Technologies	9/21/2007	$35.06	$47.54	35.60%
SCL	Stepan Co.	2/27/2008	$34.94	$40.78	16.71%
SCX	L. S. Starrett	12/10/2007	$18.88	$19.38	2.65%
SGY	Stone Energy	11/1/2007	$43.74	$63.32	44.76%
SPY	S & P Dep. Receipts	1/14/2008+	$132.20	$138.48	4.75%
SY	Sybase	11/13/2007	$25.79	$27.77	7.68%
USPH	US Physical Therapy	1/17/2008	$13.98	$15.57	11.37%
One Month Screen
	No Current Holdings
Performance Results As Of 4/18/2008			IRA	S&P 500
	Full Year 2007		33.0%	5.5%
	2008 Year To Date		0.9%	-4.8%
Total Return For IRA S&P 500 Does Not Include Income for Current Quarter