The March Monkey Portfolio
Otherwise known as a subset of March Madness. Using a random number generator the five stocks picked for March are:
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)
Dover Corp. (DOV)
Federal Home Loan Mtg. (FRE)
Fluor Corp. (FLR)
J.C. Penney (JCP)
I am taking an imaginary $1,000 investment spread equally across these stocks and comparing their return for the month against the S&P 500 index. For April, I’ll take the resulting balance, choose 5 stocks and do it all again.
Seeing the results from the random picking of stocks is only one reason for doing this ‘challenge.’ I see many bloggers voicing their lack of confidence in picking individual stocks. It’s really not that difficult, but it does take self-assurance. I’m hoping by highlighting a few stocks each month and seeing how they do, others might gain some confidence in trading. I’ll post updates occasionally during the month to see how things are going.
A little more about each stock, copied from their Yahoo corporate profile:
Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) engages in the development, management, and operation of broadband cable networks, as well as provision of programming content in the United States
Dover Corporation (DOV) manufactures industrial products and manufacturing equipment in the U.S. and Europe.
Federal Home Loan Mtg. (FRE), or Freddie Mac, is a financial services company, providing funds for residential mortgages. It conducts its business primarily by buying mortgages from lenders, packaging the mortgages into securities, and selling the securities to investors.
Fluor Corporation (FLR) provides engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance services in the United States. It operates in five segments: Oil and Gas, Industrial and Infrastructure, Government, Global Services, and Power.
J.C. Penney (JCP) sells family apparel, jewelry, shoes, accessories, and home furnishings to customers through department stores, catalog, and the Internet. In addition, the department stores provide services, such as salon, optical, portrait photography, and custom decorating.
(picture found here)
Update: OK, this is exactly why I'm doing this experiment (sort of like the fourth monkey above). I'm driving home this evening and hear Jim Cramer recommend FLR as on of his best US manufacturers. Expect a 5% lift tomorrow for absolutely no reason other than his recommendation (which will not impact what I'm doing since it was before I begin tracking it, although it will be starting the month at a higher level than it was at today). But this is part of the highly selective random features in the markets today--Cramer or an analyst recommending or trashing a stock, the Wall Street Journal doing a hatchet job on a stock based on 8-year old data, etc. The inertia factor has always been there, but there are many more interested parties able to manipulate or influence stock prices than before.
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)
Dover Corp. (DOV)
Federal Home Loan Mtg. (FRE)
Fluor Corp. (FLR)
J.C. Penney (JCP)
I am taking an imaginary $1,000 investment spread equally across these stocks and comparing their return for the month against the S&P 500 index. For April, I’ll take the resulting balance, choose 5 stocks and do it all again.
Seeing the results from the random picking of stocks is only one reason for doing this ‘challenge.’ I see many bloggers voicing their lack of confidence in picking individual stocks. It’s really not that difficult, but it does take self-assurance. I’m hoping by highlighting a few stocks each month and seeing how they do, others might gain some confidence in trading. I’ll post updates occasionally during the month to see how things are going.
A little more about each stock, copied from their Yahoo corporate profile:
Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) engages in the development, management, and operation of broadband cable networks, as well as provision of programming content in the United States
Dover Corporation (DOV) manufactures industrial products and manufacturing equipment in the U.S. and Europe.
Federal Home Loan Mtg. (FRE), or Freddie Mac, is a financial services company, providing funds for residential mortgages. It conducts its business primarily by buying mortgages from lenders, packaging the mortgages into securities, and selling the securities to investors.
Fluor Corporation (FLR) provides engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance services in the United States. It operates in five segments: Oil and Gas, Industrial and Infrastructure, Government, Global Services, and Power.
J.C. Penney (JCP) sells family apparel, jewelry, shoes, accessories, and home furnishings to customers through department stores, catalog, and the Internet. In addition, the department stores provide services, such as salon, optical, portrait photography, and custom decorating.
(picture found here)Update: OK, this is exactly why I'm doing this experiment (sort of like the fourth monkey above). I'm driving home this evening and hear Jim Cramer recommend FLR as on of his best US manufacturers. Expect a 5% lift tomorrow for absolutely no reason other than his recommendation (which will not impact what I'm doing since it was before I begin tracking it, although it will be starting the month at a higher level than it was at today). But this is part of the highly selective random features in the markets today--Cramer or an analyst recommending or trashing a stock, the Wall Street Journal doing a hatchet job on a stock based on 8-year old data, etc. The inertia factor has always been there, but there are many more interested parties able to manipulate or influence stock prices than before.
posted by Dwight at
12:38 PM
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