The stock market has changed its personality a bit.
For example, a few months ago so many groups of stocks would go straight up and now more individual stocks are reflecting actual business values.
The shares of Procter & Gamble (PG) have taken a hit in the last few months due to currency issues, while Microsoft (MSFT) has had a nice gain due to a solid earnings report.
Divergent Path
Both of these stocks are considered defensive in nature however they are now trending in opposite directions.
In my opinion, this makes research and study on individual companies more important than general market or sector evaluation.
Dynamic money managers may start to shine in this environment, while the buy and hold investors may suffer in my view.
The benchmark stock averages are trading in a tight range and the underlying volatility is so far quite extreme in my opinion.
Social Media Blowout
The recent sharp, downward moves in Twitter (TWTR) and LinkedIn (LNKD) are good examples of this volatility.
Twitter has become a source of information gathering and dissemination for major media outlets.
The stock dropped over 20% during a few trading days in late April due to disappointing earnings results.
Twitter has an ability to add a lot of features to its platform and this company has lots of room to grow in my opinion.
Right now, the stock is under pressure and I may begin to trade around a position to see if this stock can begin to recover and stage a reversal to an up trend.
TG Therapeutics
A stock I have taken a position in is TG Therapeutics (TGTX) headquartered in New York City.
This company is working on curing various diseases that I am not going to pretend to be able to write about in an educated and scientific manner.
All I can say is that from what I have read the studies are going very well for some very serious diseases of the blood and the immune system.
I am taking a chance that the progress continues for this company as they move through the clinical trials.
My suggestion to potential investors is to visit the company’s website and read the research about the various clinical trials going on that may shape the company’s outlook.
Short List
Among the other stocks that I’m interested in is the music streaming service Pandora Media (P).
The company’s audience continues to expand and the competition seems to have done little to stop this media radio company.
In my opinion, Intrexon Corporation (XON) is an interesting DNA manufacturer that helps drug companies develop products.
Ziopharm Oncology (ZIOP) works with Intrexon on various drug candidates.
Zulilly (ZU), an online retailer, may be nearing a bottom in its stock price in my view.
Its website pulls in a lot of pageviews for a company with such a small market capitalization, according to my research.
Despite the selloff in its shares, LinkedIn still has more data on its individual users than any other social media company.
I am waiting to see if LNKD can find it’s footing and recover.
I liked General Motors (GM) a few months ago, but the company just seems to have stalled out here.
I am less interested in GM until further notice.
Photo Credit: A Name Like Shields Can Make You Defensive via Flickr Creative Commons
The investments are presented for discussion purposes only and are not a reliable indicator of the performance or investment profile of any composite or client account. Further, the reader should not assume that any investments identified were or will be profitable or that any investment recommendations or that investment decisions we make in the future will be profitable.
