Author: Bill DeShurko, 401 Advisor Disclaimer: Bill DeShurko owns VZ, NLY and ALSK in his Covestor Value Plus Model. October 4, 2010: Currently the portfolio has 8 holdings and approximately 10% in cash. Gains have been led by Verizon Wireless (VZ) with over a 10% gain in September including the […]
Strategies
3470 posts
A few weeks ago we talked about the Technical Swing model on Covestor–a model that attempts to take advantage of short-term price swings—and the new positions manager Michael Arold added to the model. This week, Arold added two more. The first was BanColombia SA (NYSE: CIB), a bank with clients […]
I underperformed in September. Such is reality. Mr. Market grades each of us in both the short term and the long term. The short term matters because the long term is the aggregate of all short terms. When I look at my short term grades, I need to be objective and critical of myself. Big heads never learn anything.
To the extent, if any, that the broad market is the benchmark for this Long/Short Opportunistic Style, I underperformed in September. This style takes short positions as well as long positions, and most recently has been adding to composite short positions (DCS and DDF at the end of August, CAF in early September), and selling long positions like FGF and SGF.
The government’s NBER committee told us this week that the recession officially ended in June 2009. Their call is only 15 months late. The dreaded double dip appears to be “off the table”.
In his Fundamental Growth model, manager Gerald Sparrow looks for companies that have grown their sales, earnings and cash flows over time and that have established their ability to survive varying economic cycles. This week, he added three new positions to his model. The first was Polo Ralph Lauren Corp […]
In his Financial Services model, Covestor manager Andrew Schornack invests in positions within the financial services and real estate sectors. We discussed his model in detail last week. This month, Schornack added First Niagara Financial Group Inc (NASDAQ: FNFG) to the model. On September 30th, FNFG had a dividend yield […]
John Ballard’s Mid-Cap Fundamentals model focuses on the best companies in under-capitalized sectors. Ballard uses a fundamental approach and looks for strong balance sheets and high returns on capital. Recently, he added Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ: SIRI) to the model. SIRI’s total assets dropped slightly in 2009, going from […]
week when he added some new positions. This week, he’s added another, Credit Suisse High Yield Bond Fund (DHY). DHY is a fund that works to create income but
Author: Michael Arold Disclaimer: Michael Arold owns AVB in his Covestor Technical Swing model. September 16, 2010: Avalonbay Coummunities (NYSE: AVB) is a residential REIT, focused on rental apartment communities. I believe that AVB is currently in a sweet spot of the market: – More and more individuals are choosing […]
Limiting portfolio sizes to 20-30 stocks allows for diversification without getting to levels of diworstification. Hence, I have always had a few 'risky' biotech stocks. Based on the results of Savient Pharma (SVNT) the rewards have clearly outweighed the risks. Additionally, Rigel Pharma (RIGL) and Cephalon (CEPH) have seen bullish trading of late. Not being predisposed to investing in this sector, I just found the valuations too compelling.
As of the date of this report, the S&P500 has managed to rally substantially over the past week and a half. There were some less dire economic reports that came out that pushed the market up. To give some insight to my thinking in August and going forward I am going to spend a little time with some trades I made.