OK. Let me make this clear. I am not a stock expert, or even an amateur, to tell the truth - so I can't say that anything I write here about my stock adventure makes investing sense.
However, let me say this, too. I am not a kid, not by any means. I am probably older than you. I still work, and I don't have a lot of time to research stocks everyday. So what is this all about?
It's about picking stocks. I plan on setting up a portfolio of approximately 20 to 30 stocks. I may choose to actually buy these stocks, or I may not - but I will adhere to my portfolio as most stock pickers do. I will use a set amount of money, whether real or imagined, and track the performance of this portfolio, and I will see how I compare to the big guys.
I am looking for value stocks - stocks that are solid and are presently undervalued. I will not pick the stocks of small companies which have a higher risk of failure. I will choose stocks that have a minimum market cap of at least $500 million to $1 billion. I will share these stocks with the community here so entry and exit points will be easily tracked.
The initial portfolio will have maybe 5 to 10 stocks. Then, each quarter for the next year, I will "purchase" an additional 5 to 8 stocks until I have reached my portfolio of 20 to 30 stocks. The portfolio will not have a lot of turnover to reduce transaction costs and capital gains taxes. The initial investment will create equal amounts of each stock, say $1000.
I plan to post at least whenever I execute a transaction, but may post more frequently if the mood strikes.
I will measure my success as any would - compared to the S&P 500. So wish me luck and here goes.
Below you will find the stocks to initialize my portfolio. The $10 net loss for each stock represents the commission to purchase each stock. The Change and %Change columns represent the movement of each stock during the day. The assumption here is the stocks were purchased at the closing price today. Click on the image below to see it full size.
