Apr 13th, 2009
What Stocks am I Buying, Selling and Keeping, 2009 Edition?
Last year I posted this list of stocks I’d buy, sell, and keep, but didn’t exactly stick to it, partly because by the time I actually got around to buying stocks, things had changed. Instead of buying HD (Home Depot), selling VZ (Verizon), and holding PFE (Pfiezer), T (AT&T), I ended up buying AMZN (Amazon) and GOOG (Google), holding onto VZ, not buying HD, and selling PFE and T. Now let’s see how things look this year:
What I’ll keep:
IAR (Idearc, Inc.), a leftover from last year, is a penny stock at this point. While it’s not doing anything positive for my portfolio, selling would cost more than the holding is worth!
ACAS (American Capital Strategies), another holdover, was something I liked for its dividend. Well, that dividend is now gone, and the price has plunged, so it too is a penny stock that would cost more to sell than it’s worth, so it’s staying.
AMZN (Amazon) is something I bought last year with a windfall. Everyone knows Amazon, and it falls into my second kind of stock I like category–a company I think is the best in the world at what they do and profitable. It’s actually up over the last year. I think this will be a long term holding.
AAPL (Apple) is my single largest holding and falls into the same category Amazon does. I am actually buying into Apple every month. It’s been as high as about $200 and as low (since I’ve bought it) as the high $70s, but I have a lot of faith in this company and they keep being profitable. Again, this is one I think is long term.
MO (Altria) is one of my favorite stocks. Even if you don’t like their tobacco business, I think you’d like their balance sheet and the dividends they pay.
GOOG (Google) is one of those “best in the world and profitable” companies like Apple and Amazon. It’s not performed all that well since I bought in, but I’ll keep holding on as long as they keep doing what they’ve been doing.
RPM (RPM International, Inc.) is one of the stocks I bought last year. Think Rustoleum and you’ve got them. They’ve fared about the same as the broad market during that time, and they keep paying a nice dividend. I’m not convinced they’re long term, but I will hold onto them for awhile.
WFC (Wells Fargo) has weathered the banking storm relatively well, and I’ve loved their dividend–until they cut it. I seriously thought about dumping them, but their huge day the other day changed my mind. If their dividend starts going back up I think I’ll hold them long term (which was my original plan), but we’ll see how that goes.
PM (Philip Morris) has been better performing than the major indices over the last year and pays a healthy dividend. Of course, like their associated company MO you may not like their business, but you’d like their balance sheets.
TM (Toyota) is a stock I’ve had for awhile. It’s not done well for me but I think at some point all of that will change; certainly a better auto stock to own than the domestic automakers!
What I’ll sell:
VZ (Verizon) is something I thought about selling last year and was going to, but they then did a little better and I ended up keeping them. This time, I mean it.
MRK (Merck) is a stock I’ve had for awhile; it’s never done phenomenally for me, and I think it’s time to say goodbye and pick up a replacement.
What I’ll buy:
BAC (Bank of America) is something I have a bit of already and I’m going to buy a bit more. Why? I’m thinking that the bank stocks have been about as battered as they’re going to get (a dangerous thought) and the dividend (even after being cut) is still providing a pretty healthy yield of more than 4% as of this writing. This is somewhat of a gamble, but I’m thinking that if the economy is really going to turn around, it has to start with the banks, and this is a big one.
PFE (Pfizer) is a stock I sold last year at a bit over $20 a share. Now down to about $13.50 a share, I think it’s time to jump back into this pharmaceutical giant with the hefty dividend.
T (AT&T) is another one that I tossed last year and am going back into this year. I sold my shares last year at close to $21 a share, but it’s now up to over $26 a share. Let’s see how this one goes.
DD (DuPont) is a stock I owned several years ago and am going back into now. Not quite sure how this one will go, but it’s got a nice dividend yield going on right now.
There’s my picks for the year. Again, I’m not an expert, but I thought I’d share what I was doing. How will I do this year? I don’t know, but I hope it’ll be pretty well!
[...] What Stocks am I Buying, Selling and Keeping, 2009 Edition? posted at Uncommon Cents. This blogger updates us on his various portfolio changes. Tickers: (IAR), (ACAS), (AMZN), (AAPL), (MO), (GOOG), (RPM), (WFC), (PM), and (TM). [...]
[...] posted at The Sun’s Financial Diary. A look at the new IPOs last week. Tickers: (RST) and (BPI).What Stocks am I Buying, Selling and Keeping, 2009 Edition? posted at Uncommon Cents. This blogger updates us on his various portfolio changes. Tickers: [...]
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