2012 Stock Picks

[Surewhitey]

I've recently sold FDO and AMZN. Still holding NLY, T, EXC, CTL, GMCR and PGH.

We've sold the following in the past year... BMY, ABT, TGT, INTC, CMG, PNRA, TOT, PBI, NLY, DUK and CHK. Many of these were range trades made multiple times for quick 5-20% gains.

 

[SRyan]

Looking at a new portfolio allocation of: CAT(15%), CSX(15%), F(15%), KSS(15%), SI(15%), TOT(15%), and WPRT(10%).

 

[utrecht]

1st quarter results for my picks:

AAPL...+48%
PM......+12.9%
HD......+19.7%
FAST...+24%
MA......+12.8%

AVG...+23.5%

SP500...+12.2%

I'd say I'm kicking some butt so far.....

Oops...I forgot to calculate GWW into my average returns. As of 3/30/12 GWW is +14.8% which brings my 6 stock portfolio to an avg return of 22%. BTW, this is not a real portfolio. Just my response to my top stock picks for 2012.

 

[urn2bfree]

1st quarter results for my picks:

AAPL...+48%
PM......+12.9%
HD......+19.7%
FAST...+24%
MA......+12.8%

AVG...+23.5%

SP500...+12.2%

I'd say I'm kicking some butt so far.....

And if you sold now - after commissions and short term cap gains taxes - what would the return be?

 

[utrecht]

And if you sold now - after commissions and short term cap gains taxes - what would the return be?

Almost double what my return would be if I had bought an SP500 index fund and sold it now and subtracted my short term capital gains.

 

[urn2bfree]

Almost double what my return would be if I had bought an SP500 index fund and sold it now and subtracted my short term capital gains.

But the point is not about comparing to an index...the point is that looking at short term gains is meaningless unless you look at net returns less taxes and commissions.

 

[urn2bfree]

Also the cost of selling multiple stocks is higher than selling one index....and of course, just looking at the returns for one quarter is worth nothing if you don't sell now. It is all meaningless until you sell.

 

[utrecht]

But the point is not about comparing to an index...the point is that looking at short term gains is meaningless unless you look at net returns less taxes and commissions.

This is a thread about what stocks people like for 2012. Nothing more, nothing less. The stocks I picked are doing well so far. The only way to know they are doing well is to compare them to the overall market results.

If this were a real portfolio that I was talking about, the $5 stock commission I pay would not make any difference in a large portfolio.

 

[clifp]

Here is my Q1 performance for my picks.
My safe picks
ABT 9.0% + .9% dividend
KMI 20.14% +1% dividend

My speculative picks
RBCAA 4.4% + .67% dividend
AWX 93.2%

In case anybody is interested I think ABT is still modestly undervalued, KMI is fairly valued.
I think RBCAA is good buy they make a lot of money from refund anticipation loans (although they entered an agreement not to abuse them) so Q2 revenue will get a spike.

AWX is currently trading around 5 and I'll be selling at 8-10 and took some money off the table after I got a double.

My average is 32.3% (or a mere 300% on annualized basis LOL) but to be fair KMI, ABT positions are couple times larger than AWX and RBCCA.

 

[urn2bfree]

Corey Hart has three home runs and is on pace to hit 162 home runs this year!

 

[clifp]

Corey Hart has three home runs and is on pace to hit 162 home runs this year!

Yup and at the rate my portfolio is performing in a April I should be broke by July.

 

[obgyn65]

I have zero investment in stocks but if I wanted to invest I would put 50% in IT (i.e. Apple) and 50% in the financial sector.

 

[BUM]

The older I get the more I watch dividend payers. I'm mostly out of the market now but I still hold a bunch of PCRIX and NCT

 

[Coolius]

A bad week.

Fortunately, the majority of my portfolio is in Preferred Issues, so I took only about a 1.5% hit. Now at about 2% gain YTD - not a good performance.

Just sold a corporate bond for a little bit of Capital Gain, so am looking for a new home for the proceeds. Hoping to get a high-rated Preferred Stock yielding about 6.4%, but there are few around now.

 

[james7]

The older I get the more I watch dividend payers. I'm mostly out of the market now but I still hold a bunch of PCRIX and NCT

NCT??!! You really like to gamble don't you?

 

[clifp]

Here is my Q1 performance for my picks.
My safe picks
ABT 9.0% + .9% dividend
KMI 20.14% +1% dividend

My speculative picks
RBCAA 4.4% + .67% dividend
AWX 93.2%

Update for Q2 performance 1/4/2012- July 3

Safe picks
ABT 14.7%+1.8% dividend =16.5%
KMI 2.1%+2% dividend =4.1%

Speculative picks
RBCAA -.6^+ 1.3% dividend= .7%
AWX=30.2%

Average= 12.9%
SPY 7.6%+1% =8.6% dividend
darn just noticed that the first trading day was actually 1/3/2012 not 1/4/2012 so figures are off a fraction from the true YTD performance.

Since I'm primarily a dividend investor, it is worth noting the dividend increases announced so far this year. ABT 6.3%, KMI 6.7% RBCAA 10%. All nicely exceed inflation.

 

[utrecht]

I like AAPL, PM, HD, FAST, MA and GWW

1st half results for my picks:

AAPL..+44.2%
PM.....+11.2% +1.7% dividend= +12.9%
HD.....+26.0% + 1.1% dividend= +27.1%
FAST...-7.5% +0.8% dividend= -6.7%
MA.....+15.4%
GWW..+2.2% +0.8% dividend= +3.0%

Avg...+16.0%

SP500...+8.6%

 

[Running_Man]

My 1st Half report
MO: +17.67 +2.8% dividend = +20.47%
CVX -0.35% 1.7% Dividend +1.35 %
AMGN +15.76 1.1% divided +16.86 %

Average = 12.9%

 

[nvestysly]

okay... we're halfway through the second half - any new picks out there?

In general I prefer to find stocks that are down, have potential to rebound and pay a dividend along the way. Call that value investing, call it "dogs", or something else.

Some of the things I'm considering:

CLF
INTC
SPLS
COP

I realize these four are in entirely different industries so I'm not comparing them to each other but comparing them against their peers and I think these show some potential.

 

[Lcountz]

NI... Nisource. check it out.

 

[utrecht]

I'll stick with my original 6 stocks. So far this year:

AAPL..+61.1%
PM.....+19.4% +2.6% dividend= +22.0%
HD.....+50.3% + 1.7% dividend= +52.0%
FAST...+1.3% +1.2% dividend= +2.5%
MA.....+27.5%
GWW..+15.1% +1.2% dividend= +16.3%

Avg...+30.2%

SP500...+16.4%+1.4% dividend= +17.8%

 

[urn2bfree]

Don't mistake bulls for brains!

 

[oldnews]

I put 300k into DIS...getting the dividend on 12/28/12