My Active Investments Performance - YTD

The vast majority of my retirement portfolio is invested in mutual funds (my 401k) and ETFs (my IRA) with a roughly 80/20 allocation favoring equities. Nevertheless, I do actively manage some of the money by picking stocks and by investing in targeted ETFs. Below, I have outlined most of my actively managed stock picks (I did not include my employer's stock).

 

Description	Change Since Purchase (%)	% of Portfolio
Berkshire Hathaway B	8.58	2.15%
Goldman Sachs	4.12	2.10%
Ford Motor Company	43.15	2.02%
Monsanto	-5.62	1.57%
Microsoft	2.88	1.53%
Cisco Systems	15.17	1.51%
IBM	11.72	1.15%
Bucyrus	5.67	1.05%
Coal ETF (KOL)	42.6	0.94%
Google	31.24	0.89%
Exxon Mobile	-4.33	0.88%
Alcoa	38.09	0.86%
REIT EFT	22.58	0.74%
Honda Motor Cars	20.74	0.73%
Procter & Gamble	-0.3	0.51%
Financials ETF	42.52	0.46%
Target Corporation	3.42	0.41%
Sonic	-0.09	0.18%
CIT Group	-93.62	0.00%
% of Total Portfolio		19.68%

 

 

Comments:

1. Asset Allocation: I will not invest more than 2% of my portfolio in any individual stock. If a stock reaches 4% of my portfolio, I generally will "bank" my gains.
   
2. The Honda gain is a fluke. I bought it for long-term potential and it immediately spiked up. Pure Luck.
   
3. My Ford investments was a speculative bet. All my shares were bought below $5 per share. I have a sell order in a $10 for half the position.
   
4. The CIT shares are worth less than $10. If I sell them, the commission will exceed the value of the stock sale. Will hold them indefinitely.
   
5. Note the EFT positions (Coal, Financials and the REIT). The Coal and Financials performed very well for me. I "took" some of the profit and reduced my positions recently. Bulls make Money, Bears make Money, Pigs get slaughtered.
   
6. Sonic is my favorite fast food restaurant. I have a small position, but it is a speculative bet.