Building a stock portfolio is like putting together a really great sled dog team.
Many investors tend to take profits from their good stocks (i.e., let their good dogs go) and keep their poorly performing stocks (i.e., their sick dogs) which means they will get nowhere. That said, if a stock gets too rich (a dog is too fat to run anymore) then sell it and hook up a new dog that is ready to run.
My own stock portfolio consists of the following stocks that are listed in order of their relative weight: FB, BRK-B, BABA, GOOG, AMZN, ALK, ARE, AWK, NGLOY, AMAT, AAOI, BA, CRHM, COR, KNOW, TZA, DPS, IFLY, EVE, EVV, ETE, FDL, GE, GNTX, HCP, HBM, IBM, IPHI, IDCC, SNOW, INTU, DVY, PHG, LTC, LRCX, MU, T, MKSI, VVD, ESNT, TSRO, UCTT, MPW, MSFT, MB, OHI, OME, OMI, PTC, PYPL, RCS, PAA, SPHD, QRVO, O, RIO, GG, RGLD, ROK, KRE, SDY, SCHW, SCHA, SCHD, XLK, SWKS, SNA, PSL,V, S, STAG, STM, RUN, TER, TSRO, TLLP, TXN, MMM, TCX, VLP, VIG, VTR, WFC, WPX, TEAM, CZZ.
Here are my recommended “sled dogs” of the week (February 6 – 10): DPS, KLIC, ZEN, TTML, and OSUR. These are stocks I have in my own portfolio or that I plan to add. I won’t tell you more about them (or the stocks in my own portfolio) because you MUST research them yourself before you decide to hook them up to your sled. That way, I am not responsible for how these “sled dogs” perform or how fast your sled might run. Be sure to retire them only after they get too fat and can no longer perform. Also, if a stock misses its expected top-line revenue or its expected earnings per share it may look like its being “mauled by a bear” (or perhaps a great many bears). If the long-run prospects don’t appear to outweigh the short-term damage, that stock (or sled dog) should be sold and replaced by a healthier one.
Recommended stocks to buy for the week of February 13 – 17: VMW, NEWR, SKYY, FLEX, DE, WB, TASR, and CALB. Stocks I sold: NGLOY and HDSN. My rationale for selling these two stocks is that base materials prices are being bid up by expectations and supply shortages rather than by demand. There is also no new or increased demand from China.
I also added to my cash reserves and to my inverse beta stock TZA. But, this is only because TZA was down at the time. I plan to sell it when the market is down and TZA is up, otherwise I tend to accumulate too much at decreasing values as the market trends upward.
Recommended stocks to buy for the week of February 21 – 24 (Monday is President’s Day): First, I want to recommend some stocks and funds that I use as a diversified foundation in my own portfolio. In order of weight these are: BRK-B, FB, AMZN, IBM, GE, MSFT, ALK, KNOW, PYPL, KRE, and SKYY. I think that if you build a portfolio around these stocks you can’t go too far wrong . . . at least until they no longer perform, which for most of them, is a risk that is far into the future. Second, stocks with high potential but that are also a bit more speculative are: XCRA, CLIR, NMIH, and ELF. Although each of this last group of stocks appear to have good long-run potential, please do your own research before hitching them to your sled. I had recommended FANG but I am no longer doing so. The gas and oil sector is too week and even though Diamond Back is one of the best producers in the sector, sometimes that just isn’t good enough.
Also, I unloaded some of my precautionary inverse beta TZA while the markets were down and plan to add more at lower prices when the market is up. “Look for low and outside, but watch out for in your ear.”
Recommended stocks for the week of February 27 – March 3: I intend to buy (or buy more of) the Chinese stocks WB and BABA, and BIDU. Also, I want to buy MELI, RP, EBS, OA, and ACIA. Good investing!
