Rate My Portfolio

[nightlyraver]

After this week's bad beat in the market, I have made some changes in my portfolio to reflect the changing market (no, I definately did not sell out of panic). What do you guys think of this portfolio:

[note: I am only 25 and willing to take a moderate amount of risk, occasionally accepting large amounts of risk]

In order of position sizes...

Best Buy
The Street.Com
Garmin
Unilever
Merill Lynch
Altria
Palitin Technologies (biotech firm)


Thoughts?

[Perplexity]

There is no good reason for you to hold 7 random individual stocks rather than an index mutual fund / ETF.

[nightlyraver]

Those stocks are far from random. I believe that if you cannot make a strong argument for owning the individual stock, then you shouldn't have bought it in the first place. I simply left out my reasons from my OP because I want to hear other people's thoughts.

Also, I am trying to beat mutual funds and ETF's, which is an attainable goal if you have the time and inclination to do the homework. In fact, individual investors have an edge over the mutual funds since we don't have so much money to invest.

[SlowHabit]

Include the symbols of the stocks for people like me.

[SlowHabit]

[ QUOTE ]
There is no good reason for you to hold 7 random individual stocks rather than an index mutual fund / ETF.

[/ QUOTE ]
You said random individual stocks because you think OP doesn't know wtf he's doing correct?

Or random in a sense that they have no relationship with each other. In that case, there are many good reasons to own individual stocks.

[PairTheBoard]

[ QUOTE ]
Those stocks are far from random. I believe that if you cannot make a strong argument for owning the individual stock, then you shouldn't have bought it in the first place. I simply left out my reasons from my OP because I want to hear other people's thoughts.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like to hear your reasons for owning them. I'd be more motivated to look into them if you gave your brief analysis for them first. Also, the symbols would help.

PairTheBoard

[BeL0wMe]

[ QUOTE ]
There is no good reason for you to hold 7 random individual stocks rather than an index mutual fund / ETF.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe because he wants to beat the market and not settle for average returns [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[nightlyraver]

OK, people asked for symbols and reasons for ownership, so here they are:

Best Buy (BBY): I actually bought this stock a while ago, but after it got totally hammered earlier this week, I doubled down and then doubled down again. It is a best of breed in the big box market, and while Circuit City, Radio Shack, and CompUSA are closing stores, BBY is expanding and vaccuming up the market. TOTAL bargain at 47, should be at 60 right now, and could easily go to 72+ over the course of the next year, especially after the fed cuts rates.

The Street.Com (TSCM): This is a speculative play. It is Jim Cramer's project and I think it will succeed. Stock took a dive after they reported that they were scalling back their Premium content in favor of free content that will generate more ad revenues. They are constantly growning and beating estimates, and I think that it is still undervalued.

Garmin (GRMN): Bottom line, they are the number one in personal navigation devices, and are aggressively expanding into the auto, boat, and plane market. Again, best of breed, rapidly expanding, and undervalued. They constantly under promise and over deliver.

Unilever (UN): Economy is slowing and investors are going to seek out those safty stock that are bottoming. EVERYONE has multiple items in their fridges, medicine chests, etc. that this company makes. Also, it carries a very attractive 4% dividend, which provides a floor in a falling market, along with the ensured profits that will occur no matter what the market is doing.

Merrill Lynch (MER): Brokerage houses are also a good bet in a slowing economy, since they make money no matter how the market is doing. This one is mannaged well, global, and while many of its competitors bounced back quickly this past week, I snapped this one up before it caught up (still hasn't caught up actually). For no reason at all from what I can tell, it seems to be enjoying a below-par multiple compared to its peers.

Altria (MO): Again, another safe pick in a slowing economy. Large dividend, exapnding globally, and very little risk of downside. Also, it could easily go up a lot after they spin off Kraft. This stock constantly gets knocked down when lawsuits are announced, which is why I bought it, and as a lawyer I can tell when those suits are [censored].

Palatin (PTN): Another speculative play. They are the only firm that really makes a type of drug that you inhale and stimulate the brain directly. They are coming out with a drug that will replace Viagra (more successfull, less side effects, works on women too) and just signed a deal with Astro Zeneca regarding a weight loss drug.

[guller]

I don't really like Garmin right now. I think everyone who wants a GPS pretty much has one by now, but it is the best GPS stock so if you think it's going up more keep it.

UN and MO. You should trade one of these in for an energy sector / oil stock. Maybe something like HAL here would be a good play. You don't need this many "slowing economy" stocks at your age, especially if you think the fed is going to cut rates. I would probably get out of UN.

[nightlyraver]

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You don't need this many "slowing economy" stocks at your age, especially if you think the fed is going to cut rates. I would probably get out of UN.

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Point taken, but consider this:

These picks are not really defensive plays. Rather, I expect to capture a short term move that results in these seculars when the fed cuts. I expect the other guys to jump on UN as the economy slows and becomes more uncertain, driving the price up.

Thoughts?