Careless Chinese Baggage Handler Really Throws Himself Into His Work
Reap Savings on a Refurbished Laptop -- Savings Experiment
We are only one month into the new year and there have not been many dull moments. Games are going on in the Middle East and they are not the friendly kind. In Egypt a million plus protesters are playing a game of chicken with the Mubarak government demanding he step down from his 32-year-old reign as perpetual president.This is not radical Islam fundamentalists; it is even more fundamental. The people want to improve their daily lives in a meaningful way. Education, infrastructure, clean water and clean streets. Speaking of infrastructure and getting back to the less dramatic but still important great stock picks Telefonica (TEF) and General Electric (GE) were the big winners so far bouncing over 10% in January.
It is not just infrastructure plays that are up. I made a big deal about oil and defense stocks (see: Chasing Value: You Must Own Defense and Oil for Safety for a start, and the conclusion) having a good year, paying dividends, and being a hedge against the unknown -- better known now, and playing into my next three winners earning between 4% and 8%.
I also thought that 2011 would continue to be another good year for financial and insurance stocks, which so far is holding true. Of the eleven picks this year only health care continues to disappoint, but I remain steadfast that this will change. The stocks are just too cheap and I will be making moves in this sector as long as that is the case.
The following are this years picks ordered by performance. The starting prices are from December 31, 2010 concluding yesterday January 31, 2011
Telefonica (TEF): adjusted for a 3 for 1 split, from $22.806 it jumped up to $25.13 for a 10.19% gain.
General Electric (GE): from $18.29 it sprang up to $20.14 adding a 10.11% gain.
Raytheon (RTN): from $46.34 elevated up to $49.99 for a 7.88% gain.
Noble Corp. (NE): from $35.77 was up to $38.25 for a market beating 6.93% gain.
Chevron (CVX): from $91.25 moved up to $94.93 for a 4.03% gain.
Homeowners Choice (HCII): from $8.08 this little company was a winner, up to $8.35 for a 3.34% gain.
Bank of America (BAC): from $13.34 erratically edged up to $13.73 for a nice 2.92% gain.
Citigroup (C): from $4.73 moved up to $4.82 for a 1.90% gain.
Newcastle Investments (NCT): from $6.70 bounced around ending at $6.70 right where it started.
EZCorp (EZPW): from $27.13 was down after a strong earnings report selling off slightly, down to $26.90 for a small loss 0.08% on profit taking after months of appreciation.
Merck & Co. (MRK): from $36.04 dropped down to $33.17 for a sad 7.96% loss.
The average return for this years picks in one months time was 3.57% (39.26% /11). Adding the dividends paid by 8 of the 11 picks averaging a yield for the group of 0.209% (2.51% / 12) equates to a one month return of 3.78%.
Comparing my picks to the S&P 500 which started at 1,257.64 and moved up to 1,286.12 we find a lessor gain of 2.26%. Adding the average yield of 0.139% (1.67% / 12) arrives at a total return to date of 2.4%.
This puts my picks ahead of the S&P by 1.38% (57.5% better) which would be wonderful if it was the end of the year, however, it is not and things cans change a lot over the coming months. Stay tuned, as I will report again after the first quarter.
If you would like to review my original posts suggesting these stocks the following links will help.
- Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11
- Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 6, 7, 8, 9
- Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 10 and 11
Sheldon Liber is an architect and the CEO of Chasing Value ™ Asset Management, Inc., a small private investment company. He writes the columns Chasing Value™ and Serious Money and is on twitter: ChasingValue. Disclosure: Mr. Liber owns shares and/or options in all of this year's stocks.
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
