I thought I would run through my current holdings, if only to reinforce in my own mind why I hold the positions and what my goals and exit strategies are, if any.
CSCO
GS
KRY
LVLT
MON
NYX
PGDP(otc)
PIV
VZ
WFC
FLEX
MVIS
KRY
CSCO--This was one of Jim Cramer's 9 top growth, value, and spec stocks. I don't remember which category it fell into for sure. I don't own a very large position and so far its slightly below par in value. Everyone says that tech stocks do better in late summer through the end of the year, but I think I'll unload this stock soon to put the money to work in NYX.
GS--Another one of Cramer's picks for the year. I think GS was a value pick as it trades at a realtivly low P/E ratio. I own a whole 3 shares. GS has had a couple small runs but keeps getting knocked back to about where I bought it. In fact, today, it fell into the red. I think this company has a lot of potential because they've got their fingers in just about every pie out there and I would like to keep it long term and add to it, provided I ever make money somewhere else to use.
KRY--Cramer used to do a radio show and I found some of them on thestreet.com and listened to them. KRY was a stock he was pushing on the show. They are a Canadian company trying to get a gold mine started in Venezuela. All they really need now is to recieve an environmental permit from the country, which both the company and the regulators in Venz. have said they should recieve, but they've been waiting a long time and stringing investors along. Cramer switched his position shortly after the shows and so far he hasn't been wrong. There has been lots of money to make if you day trade the stock, but I don't have the balls or money for that kind of trading. The gold mine is huge, and if they do every actually get the permit I think they could make a good long term holding, but I'm tired of waiting and I'm going to cash out a couple days after they get the permit if the stock runs up. I'd love to see 10-12 a share, but I think 7-8 is more realistic short term.
LVLT-- A Cramer speculative pick of the year (hrrm, noticing a trend here. . .) This is a play on bandwidth shortage. I don't know if there will ever be a shortage, but the volume of traffic on the internet is ever increasing. Just this March we finally got DSL out here in the sticks and I know I watch a whole lot of video on the internet that I never used to be able to. I also play some multiplayer computer games. I can't be the only one.
MON--I picked this stock all by myself! I got in in Feb and have enjoyed the run up since then. Living on a farm, I knew the high price of corn due to ethanol demand would auger well for a company like Monsanto and I was right. More corn acres means more sales of seed corn, much of which will be RoundUp Ready and that also means higher sales of RoundUp, especially considering the amount of acres coming from CRP which needs to be sprayed with something hard hitting like RoundUp to prepare it for corn. Also, since Monsanto gets tech fees on anything RoundUp Ready, you get the added benefits from other companies selling extra seed corn. My only complaint about this stock is that I didn't buy nearly enough of it.
NYX--This is one ugly traded stock. It was Cramer's #1 growth stock of the year and it has about driving him crazy. Its down probably 20% from where he's recommended it. I think it has a great long-term story and I've been buying on the way down and have lowered my cost basis to around 86. I'm still down, but its not as ugly as it could be. I've been throwing pretty much all my spare money into this stock as it has the potential to rocket once it gets some support behind it. There is much speculation that they will buy a US exchange such as NMX, ICE, or the CME/CBOT and while I think this could be helpful, I hope they keep chasing the global exchange story and hookup with or buy Tokyo. I'm not sure they could acquire Tokyo, but if they could I think it would be huge. NYX was the only green in my whole portfolio today, which is odd for how its traded this spring.
PGDP--These guys are prospecting for gold and silver in Mexico. They've got some decent sites picked out. I had a really good gain right out the gate with this stock after I picked it up in Feb, but it has since given it all and more back. Everyone says avoid penny stocks and they are probably right, though I think this has the potential to be a real company someday.
PIV--This is an ETF based on the ValueLine strategy. ValueLine has a long track record of great returns, but so far the ETF hasn't been all that exciting. I wanted an ETF for no good reason and this was one that interested me.
VZ-- I picked this as part of the dogs of the dow theory. I think it was the underdog of the dow last year. If I understand it correctly, you pick the worst performing or highest yielding stock of the dow 30 from the previous year and invest in it until the next year when you pick the new worst stock. I think this strategy has had good returns in the past and I should study up some more on it. VZ hasn't been awesome, but it has been up 10-15% this year at times.
WFC--This is another stock I picked myself. I have an account with them and I think they are a good company. So far, they haven't been hurt much by the whole sub-prime mess though the stock hasn't really done anything year to date. Maybe if we get a rate cut the banks will start to move.
I also have a couple option positions. I own 10 MVIS Dec 5 calls. I'm hoping to dump 5 of them at 1.85/contract as that will cover my initial investment and allow me to see what happens with the other 5.
3 FLEX Oct 10 calls. I got these by following Lenny Dykstra's column on thestreet.com. They haven't done much for me yet, but they still have a few months to play out.
2 KRY JAN08 7.50 calls. Still waiting for the permit then I'll jump out of these.
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