Welcome to week 58 of my stock-picking throwdown with Mr. Market. Let's get right to the numbers:
Company |
Starting Price* |
Recent Price |
Total Return |
---|---|---|---|
Akamai |
$22.23 |
$18.71 |
(15.8%) |
Harris & Harris |
$6.22 |
$6.36 |
2.3% |
IBM |
$126.39** |
$121.88 |
(3.6%) |
Oracle |
$22.64** |
$21.52 |
(4.9%) |
Taiwan Semiconductor |
$9.81** |
$10.89 |
11% |
AVERAGE RETURN |
-- |
-- |
(2.20%) |
S&P 500 SPDR |
$123.67** |
$107.16 |
(13.35%) |
DIFFERENCE |
-- |
-- |
11.15 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
* Tracking began on Aug. 7, 2008.
** Adjusted for dividends and other returns of capital.
My portfolio returns improved this week. Mr. Market's average return improved more.
And that was with Citigroup
Meanwhile, this panel of Foolish experts has mixed views for when we'll see a broad-based earnings recovery. David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Funds, says "we've already turned the corner" on an earnings recovery, while Bob Doll, vice chairman and global chief investment officer at BlackRock, says investors ought to be patient.
"Don't forget that it is going to take a long time to climb the hill after what we now know to have been a bubble in financial earnings," Doll said.
Lousy unemployment numbers appear to back Doll's assertions. According to a recent survey from Manpower, hiring plans have dropped to their lowest level since 1962, when the survey began. In August, the unemployment rate rose in 27 states. California and Nevada set new records for joblessness last month, Bloomberg reports.
The week in tech
Silicon Valley is part of the problem. Cisco
Yet innovation persists. Google
Others, such as Adobe
Finally, Palm's
Of course, transitions are everyday fare in Silicon Valley, where real earthquakes rattle buildings and upstart innovations disrupt business models. That's why tech investing is best practiced in a diversified, patient manner. Look at David Gardner. He produced a decade of 20% returns in the real-money Rule Breaker portfolio by sticking with innovators. Tom Gardner's "simpleton portfolio" was also a 10-year winner. I believe that, with these five tech stocks, I will achieve similar success.
Checkup time!
Now let's move on to the rest of today's update:
- Oracle's fiscal first-quarter earnings report disappointed investors who were expecting more revenue. They're missing the point. A sell-off has made shares of the database king a more attractive buy.
There's your checkup. See you back here next week for more tech stock talk.
Get your clicks with more techie Foolishness:
- The iPhone is still bigger than you think.
- Will Twitter be Mr. Market's next bubble boy?
- At least Sirius XM has a 91% chance of remaining solvent.