So much for my turnaround.
I was pumped last week, making enough sharp stock picks to propel my cellar-hugging Motley Fool CAPS rating from 0.51 to 4.81. In other words, I went from being better than just 0.51% of my fellow players to a relatively better 4.81%.
Sure, lagging 95.19% of you is not the kind of art that will make it onto my mother's refrigerator, but it was a welcome improvement.
It didn't last. I was actually running ahead of last week's rating, all the way to the last hour of the trading day yesterday. The market soared, but my stocks did not. My new rating of 2.69 stings, but it's better than where I was a couple of weeks ago.
Here's how my ratings have clocked in over the past few weeks:
As I have every week, let's go over some of my recent picks and pans.
Making moves and taking names
I made three new calls this week, all bullish and all reporting quarterly earnings next week. The first one was to hop onto Marvel Entertainment
Wall Street expects earnings to dip, but Marvel has been on a roll lately after blowing past analyst estimates in the two previous quarters. I like the company's chances to land the one-two punch of a huge movie opening and a healthy earnings report.
Greenfield
Online
Greenfield rose above it, topping market estimates on accelerating revenue growth in the final quarter of 2007. The company's guidance calls for revenue growth to slow in 2008, but the company's high-margin model will do just fine with that. The company also has healthy overseas exposure, so it's not as if its obsolescence is hanging on stateside competition.
My third bullish call is Activision
Things can only get better
I also did quite a bit of pruning this week. I cut ties with seven stocks, most notably my bearish call on Yahoo!
My timing was also pretty good on letting go of Shutterfly
I also turned the dial on Clear Channel
What will I do next? You're welcome to follow along on my CAPS page to see how I'm doing even before next week's update.
Another thing you may want to do is give Motley Fool CAPS a shot. The moment you start, you'll be way ahead of me. It doesn't mean I'm going to stop fighting just because there's one more person ahead of me.
I'm not going to rest until my rating grows respectable. See you there!