Personal
Portfolio
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A Pause in the Downward Spiral -
I thought
I
decided to go ahead and sell all my position in ETFC and use it as a
tax loss. Turned out to be a fairly good idea, all things concerned.
Where did the money go? See Below.
UNH
has turned around and is actually showing a gain MO
and WMB are going positive on occasion.
GE continues to be one of the biggest drags on
the portfolio on a percentage basis.
The bank and insurance stocks....Not improving
nearly as quickly as I would have thought. I am going to
continue
holding these as I think the Obama Nation won't dare do more
damage
to the economy in the short run, but judging by what I have
seen in the last month, I may have been optimistic.
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Boy, Memories are Short
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Sorry
folks,
Barry
is not the nation's first elected black president. That title
went to William Jefferson Blythe Clinton back in the 90's when the
congressional black caucus bestowed our good buddy Bill with the honor.
Our newly elected community organizer is not without hope when
searching for a legacy for his future presidential library.
His
personal claim to fame it seems, is assuming one of the most sought
after titles in the New World Order ........that of First
Feminist!
And
of course he can also proudly proclaim the stock market performance
during inauguration day as absolutely the worst in history.
What
does this tell me?
The market is
forward looking........ |
A Triple Bagger
It's nice to win one once in a
while and PALM did not disappoint.
I
now have enough spare change for my 300' of fence and a GoldenDoodle
(long story there). As an adult male, I think I am going to
have
some trouble admitting I am the future owner of a GoldenDoodle. Kind of
like admitting to being a proud owner of a Cockapoo or a Lhasa Apso.
It
just doesn't quite roll of the tongue as well as, say a German
Shepherd, Airedale, Rottweiler, Bulldog, Catahoula or Doberman Pinscher.
Anyway,
I have very little PALM left and have a hard time believing it will
reach much more than nine dollars a share, especially in this
economy. You never know though. That's why I am
holding
just a bit of PALM.
I might be tempted to pick up some more if the stock dips back to the
5's.
In the mean time, I split some of the surplus into two more stocks.
First on the list is Sprint (S)
Sprint has been creamed by the competition, especially by those who
distribute IPhones and BlackBerries.
My thought on Sprint is simplistic.
I
highly doubt being the exclusive provider of the new Palm phone is
going to make or break the company but I think the stock could get a
nice bounce when it brings the phone to market. However,
there is
talk of Apple filing lawsuits for patent infringement again but they
seem to mostly be bluster when it comes to suits but it is something to
consider.
Word is that
Sprint is also going to be offering a flat rate, $50.00 a month plan
with unlimited text messaging in an attempt to capture the younger
crowd who use text messaging as the
primary form of communication. I
would dare say a plan like that would be quite attractive to people in
that group.
That's not to say the competition would come out with something equally
competitive and I bet they do.
I
think one third of my Sprint shares in a taxable account and two thirds
in tax privileged accounts could do quite well with a little patience.
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Next up is the Huntsman Corporation
(HUN)
This is a specialty chemicals and plastics company. I managed to pick
this one up right at its lows (so far).
It is still paying a dividend and at these prices the yield is around
13%.
The company settled several law suits to their advantage as a result of
a failed merger attempt.
I am viewing this one as a long term hold.
Last but not least, I picked up some more XL in the
very low
three's, sold it in the high three's and bought back in the mid two's.
This has been a great trading stock and in a tax privileged
account, it has been providing some nice returns.
I don't imagine it is going to be paying a dividend much longer so I
wouldn't pay much attention to that.
If you have a little patience with this one, you could do well.
However,
with the financials you must be aware you are playing with fire.
I
never thought I would see Bank of America at $27.00 a share.
I
never thought I would see it at $13.00 a share and I certainly never
thought I would see it at seven and change.
This has been bloody.
Regions Financial, a favorite of mine got clobbered too.
The only one this month that managed to stay in positive territory was
Altria (MO).
People are still going to drink and they are still going to smoke.
That's
about it for financial commentary other than to say my wife's GNMA fund
yielded around 7% last year and this year it is the only financial
asset that has not lost value.
Something to think about.
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