What stocks do you own and why?

R

rickradian_IHB

New member
I respect the opinions of the members on this board and have found a lot of you as very intelligent individuals. If any of you would care to participate I am curious to know what some of your stock portfolios look like and the reasoning behind the ownership. I usually brainstorm with my friends and family on the market and we usually give each other very good pointers. I work in the tech industry so my expertise usually runs through that field. With that in mind my stock purchases usually lean towards tech, but I try to stay diversified.



All I can say is thank god I was never on margin. I would have panicked and sold off at huge losses. I just stayed calm and road the downturn out. Recommendations I give people, stay away from margin and invest with what you can afford to lose.



I will start it off. Your opinions on some of my portfolio is also appreciated.



Current Stock portfolio.



INTC - Owned for 2+ years. I've averaged down so many times I lost count. This is a very long term investment for me. I think the dividend is safe and this is a very strong innovative company. Their current product offering and tech road map blows all of their competitors away. Long term I view this as a 2-3X bagger.



GE - Another one I have averaged down quite a bit on. Still in the red but I think this is rediculously under valued. The Capitol Group is still troublesome but I still feel confident. Once I am in the black I will probably sell.



RHT - Future growth story. Best Linux provider and a cash cow. Averaged down at the low and made a great call. Will hold long term. I forsee a buyout from IBM or Oracle in the future.



WFMI - I just like the food and my family has a member with special diet needs (Bad allergies). Really a sentimental buy



VZ - Huge growth with FIOS, solid dividend



APPL - Iphone will make Apple the next MSFT. Very long term buy



MRK - Wanted a pharma/Health stock. Bought on advice from a friend plus solid dividend



USO - Oil ETF, no comment



FAS - Pure speculation play. Mark to Market rule change in April was a game changer. Bought this at a great price. Will get out very soon.



Yhoo - Waiting for MSFT to buy them out. Unfortunatly I was wrong. Will be selling very soon.



The Company that I work for - Golden Shackles.
 
We are 100% cash right now. I even transferred all of my 401K funds today to a stable value fund. Im hoping the market comes back down to the low 8,000's, then ill go all in.
 
[quote author="rick_r" date=1249995667]I'm only 20% Cash.</blockquote>
Time to start raising cash.



Check out the following site that I like....



<a href="http://www.freetradingvideos.com/vlog/Events/default.asp?Year=2009&Month=08&Day=10">Free Trading Videos that Graphcakes will like</a>
 
[quote author="rick_r" date=1249993806]I respect the opinions of the members on this board and have found a lot of you as very intelligent individuals. If any of you would care to participate I am curious to know what some of your stock portfolios look like and the reasoning behind the ownership. I usually brainstorm with my friends and family on the market and we usually give each other very good pointers. I work in the tech industry so my expertise usually runs through that field. With that in mind my stock purchases usually lean towards tech, but I try to stay diversified.



All I can say is thank god I was never on margin. I would have panicked and sold off at huge losses. I just stayed calm and road the downturn out. Recommendations I give people, stay away from margin and invest with what you can afford to lose.



I will start it off. Your opinions on some of my portfolio is also appreciated.



Current Stock portfolio.



INTC - Owned for 2+ years. I've averaged down so many times I lost count. This is a very long term investment for me. I think the dividend is safe and this is a very strong innovative company. Their current product offering and tech road map blows all of their competitors away. Long term I view this as a 2-3X bagger.



GE - Another one I have averaged down quite a bit on. Still in the red but I think this is rediculously under valued. The Capitol Group is still troublesome but I still feel confident. Once I am in the black I will probably sell.



RHT - Future growth story. Best Linux provider and a cash cow. Averaged down at the low and made a great call. Will hold long term. I forsee a buyout from IBM or Oracle in the future.



WFMI - I just like the food and my family has a member with special diet needs (Bad allergies). Really a sentimental buy



VZ - Huge growth with FIOS, solid dividend



APPL - Iphone will make Apple the next MSFT. Very long term buy



MRK - Wanted a pharma/Health stock. Bought on advice from a friend plus solid dividend



USO - Oil ETF, no comment



FAS - Pure speculation play. Mark to Market rule change in April was a game changer. Bought this at a great price. Will get out very soon.



Yhoo - Waiting for MSFT to buy them out. Unfortunatly I was wrong. Will be selling very soon.



The Company that I work for - Golden Shackles.</blockquote>




I'm about 60% cash in my trading account 35% in shorts (DXD, FAZ) and the rest in my fun stocks (RICK), 100% in cash for my long term (401k stuff). I'm more of a trend trader, following institution money flow and hold positions anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months.



*You provided solid foundamentals for each of your current positions and I agree with most of them. But keep in mind foundamentals are almost useless in today's market, foundamentals tell you WHY to buy, but it never tells you WHEN to buy.



*I'm an econ/business major and been taught in classes and in my Merrill Lynch broker trainings to believe in "buy and hold", "invisible hand" and all other BS, those of the type of stuff wall street would love you to believe. Most investors who bought and held for the last 10yrs probably didn't make any money at all.



*I'd recommend you study some technicals (charts), regardless how foundamentally strong a stock is, if nobody is buying it (or the market as a whole is trending down), it just won't go up buy itself.



*You have no short positions to hedge your long portfolio, it's a very dangerous thing in today's market to bet heavily on just one side when there are still a lot uncertainties out there. I still don't believe in the March low is THE low but at the same time this bear rally might last beyond Sep.



Good Luck!



Just my 2 cents
 
The low volume on the market has been a bit concerning lately. Seems like the big boys have stepped aside. Market might be held up right now by the retail investor.



In terms of balancing my portfolio with short positions, I try to buy puts on stocks that I am in the black on to lock in some of my gains. I don't like putting stop losses. Too dangerous (Look up Dandreon).
 
I bought individual CA municipal bonds rated AAA last year with various maturities from one year to 10 years out, that yield around 4-5% tax free. I'll be holding them to maturity but I think I'll replace maturing individual bonds with CA municipal bond funds like PCK, have a higher yield, around 6-7% tax free, and better yet they have monthly distributions instead of semi-annual distributions of individual bonds. I also bought high yielding bond ETFs starting in March this year, like PGF, PFF, PGX, JNK, HYG that were yielding 15-20%, and REIT ETFs like VNQ and RWR. I plan to hold all the bonds and ETFs indefinitely for the high yield.
 
I already had equity exposure (S&P and Nasdaq ETFs) that would benefit from capital gains if the markets moved up; junk and preferred ETFs were good diversification opportunities in the 2nd quarter of the year for steady monthly income.
 
Sold Everything. Only left with GE. I think we might be in for a bit of a dip.



Looking for new investments now, asked about UNG ETF on another thread.
 
I cashed out most of my stocks 2 weeks ago. I was 'playing' around with GE, FNM (darn.. should have held it 1 week longer), AAPL (still holding and I'm up 50% thus far - wish I had a substantial position), JNJ, ATVI (so disappointed SC2 isn't going to be a 2009 release).



The market is overvalued. Dow over 9500? No way. Maybe we'll see a dip in the upcoming weeks. Then I'll buy back in.
 
I own a few shares of PCG that my great aunt left me and I won't sell unless it's that or starvation (sentimental reasons).

I also have a few shares of T thanks to my uncle who was once an employee of Pac bell

I was also given one share of DIS when I was born and that has split a couple of times since then.
 
[quote author="acpme" date=1250114391]why high yield? if you think junk is going to hold up, why not just buy the equity?</blockquote>


The case was that liquid high yield (senior to equity) was trading 23% wide to Treasuries. On a relative value basis, being first in line for cash flows, at spreads never before seen, made HY a compelling trade. Now with spreads less than half of their peak with rising default rates and lower recovery rates, it is far less clear.
 
[quote author="CapitalismWorks" date=1251409829][quote author="acpme" date=1250114391]why high yield? if you think junk is going to hold up, why not just buy the equity?</blockquote>


The case was that liquid high yield (senior to equity) was trading 23% wide to Treasuries. On a relative value basis, being first in line for cash flows, at spreads never before seen, made HY a compelling trade. Now with spreads less than half of their peak with rising default rates and lower recovery rates, it is far less clear.</blockquote>


yeah, i also made the same trade. spreads have come in nicely, which makes the trade less compelling now. my interpretation of he OP's comments was that this was the major theme of his portfolio "indefinitely" and just curious about people's fwd-looking viewpoints on the high-yield trade.
 
401k

50% JIGRX

50% ATHAX

~5K in a separate IRA account for day trading. currently holding BRF



I'm 28 years old. want to hear other ppl's strategy in the 20s
 
[quote author="cantaloop" date=1251379888]I cashed out most of my stocks 2 weeks ago. I was 'playing' around with GE, FNM (darn.. should have held it 1 week longer), AAPL (still holding and I'm up 50% thus far - wish I had a substantial position), JNJ, ATVI (so disappointed SC2 isn't going to be a 2009 release).



The market is overvalued. Dow over 9500? No way. Maybe we'll see a dip in the upcoming weeks. Then I'll buy back in.</blockquote>


cantaloop,



i like ATVI a lot too. they are a classic under-promise and over-deliver company. a lot of good reasons for SC2 getting pushed back.



1) it spreads out their release schedule. ATVI's fall/winter release slate is already the best vs peers even without SC2.

check out gamestop best-sellers lists. i've tracked it for most of the yr and the $149 modern warfare bundle was consistently in the top 3 sellers. the regular copy is also in the top 10. added together, its the best selling game out there and won't even ship until november! who would have thought in this economy that people are pre-ordering $149 games 6 months in advance.

why cannabalize other sales when SC2 will hold the attention of gamers for prolonged periods i.e. WOW. and after that you have diablo 3 on the way too.



2) blizzard doesn't push to meet deadlines and activision has been wise enough after the merge to let that unit do their thing. blizzard's MO is it's ready when it's ready, and their track record suggests it's good philosophy. games that have a hard deadline are always crap (i.e. movie-related games from the activision side)
 
My prediction of a Dow dip is coming true! When it's back at 9000, time to buy back in.



As for ATVI, I agree that SC2 shouldn't be rushed. I suppose that after waiting 8+ years, I've lost my patience. PROTOSS!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top