I had been toying with the idea of selling one of the stocks in my portfolio for some time and ended up finally pulling the trigger on Monday. The company had slowing growth and I saw a few red flags, and ultimately decided to move on.
However, with so many exciting opportunities in the stock market right now, the cash didn't sit in my brokerage account for long. I decided to take the sale proceeds and add to three of my highest-conviction stock positions.
Don't let a tough environment distract from a long-term opportunity
It's no secret that the auto industry has been facing supply chain issues for a while now, and we're just starting to see demand for new cars cool off as prices soar and recession fears persist. General Motors' (GM -0.04%) stock price has fallen considerably as a result.
However, GM could be one of the best long-term plays on the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. For one thing, the company is investing heavily in EVs, and its unmatched brand loyalty should help sales as it rolls out electrified versions of its Silverado, Corvette, and many other popular models over the next few years.
GM also has tremendous potential in the autonomous vehicle space as majority owner of Cruise, which is arguably the most promising player in the space. Its potential and traction for government applications is massive, and in fact GM was just chosen to create a battery pack prototype for the U.S. military.
There could be even more to come. In fact, the company just announced the creation of its GM Energy division that aims to produce energy products for homes and businesses, as well as vehicle charging infrastructure. With the stock trading for more than 50% below its 2022 high, and for less than five times forward earnings, General Motors looks like a tremendous bargain relative to its potential.
A unique real estate stock at a massive discount
Howard Hughes Corporation (HHH 0.23%) is one of the most unique businesses in the real estate industry, with a value-creation model that is designed with the long term in mind.
Here's the short version. Howard Hughes Corporation acquires a massive block of land. It then sells some of this land to homebuilders, who build residential neighborhoods. These neighborhoods create demand for commercial properties, which Howard Hughes builds and generates rental income with. These commercial assets make the surrounding land more valuable, so they sell a little more to homebuilders. This cycle can repeat for decades.
Howard Hughes' master-planned communities are more like small cities, such as Summerlin in the Las Vegas area or The Woodlands in Houston. The company has plenty of room to continue its cycle of value creation in its established communities, and recently acquired 37,000 acres of vacant land in the Phoenix area to start a new one from scratch. At its latest investor day, management estimated that the intrinsic value of the stock is conservatively about $175 per share right now -- it currently trades for less than one-third of that.
My (new) largest stock position
I've been building a position in Boston Omaha Corporation (BOC -0.39%) for several years, and after the recent additions, it has now become my largest stock investment.
I consider Boston Omaha a rare combination of a margin of safety and a business with tremendous long-term upside potential. If you aren't familiar, Boston Omaha is a young conglomerate that has four parts. It owns subsidiaries in billboard advertising, insurance, and broadband internet services, and these all have excellent economics and room to scale.
However, it's the fourth segment, Boston Omaha Asset Management (BOAM), that I'm most excited about. The company sees massive opportunities in a few areas, specifically built-for-rent housing and fiber communications infrastructure. Instead of trying to capitalize these two ideas and build them from scratch, BOAM is looking to raise a total of about $600 million from outside investors. Not only does this enable the company to scale rapidly, but it also has the potential to generate a stream of performance fee income. And if its initial asset management efforts are successful, it could get much larger from here.
I've been aggressive in 2022 so far, and I don't plan to change that
So far in 2022, I've been a rather aggressive investor. I've already maxed out my contributions to retirement accounts and have bought shares of about two dozen stocks -- mostly adding to my favorite positions, but adding a few new ones as well. As Warren Buffett says, "When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble."
To be sure, most of the stocks I've purchased in 2022 are down from where I bought, but that simply comes with the territory of taking advantage of a bear market. It's a losing battle to try to time the market's bottom, so the best bet is to add incrementally to stocks that you're confident will be worth far more in five years or more, and not worry about whether they'll do well in the coming weeks or months.
