We are coming up on the end of the first quarter of 2011, and the Thousandaire portfolio has been picking stocks all year. Honestly, I hope you haven’t been buying what we’ve been recommending because we aren’t doing so hot.
The Hoff got food poisoning this weekend after deciding it would be a good idea to finish off a half-eaten Big Mac that he found on one of the tables in a local McDonald’s. Or maybe he just got sick from his girlfriend’s cooking. Either way, he was too sick to write a stock pick today, but I don’t want to miss investing today because the market is so low.
I’m going to dollar cost average another stock already in the portfolio this week and buy some more Maxwell (MXWL). I originally picked this stock and I still really like it, so I’m going to buy some more while it’s down 16.5% from where we first purchased.
Thousandaire Portfolio Performance
Speaking of being down, let’s talk about how the entire portfolio is doing overall. To be honest, we suck! We are down 6.00%^ on the year, while if you were investing in the S&P 500, you would only be down 2.56%.
[table “3” not found /]
Now if you are new to investing, your reaction might be to sell everything, take your six percent loss and just be happy you didn’t lose more. That’s a very common, 
emotional response. It’s also a potentially stupid response.
If you think oil prices are going to keep climbing and the effects of the tsunami will destroy the Japanese economy, which will have a ripple effect on the world economy, then by all means get out now. However, if you think oil prices will stabilize and decrease now that there is a UN sanction against Libya, and you believe Japan is strong enough to rebound from the earthquake, then this is a great time to keep buying.
Stocks are on sale, and the more you buy at a cheap price, the more money you are going to make when the market comes back. This portfolio is investing more into MXWL, but I encourage you to look at your personal portfolio. If you see a stock in there that you love, there’s a good chance it’s selling at a pretty good price right now. Now might be the right time to buy some more.
Remember these words from the great Warren Buffett: “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” There is a lot of fear in the market right now, so it looks like it’s time to get greedy.
Important to note that ALL ideas, thoughts, and/or forecasts expressed or implied herein are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should NOT be construed as a recommendation to invest, trade, or speculate in the markets.
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
Well, at least I’m not alone! Generally I’m up from December, but not as much as I would hope for! I’m going to wait it out and hope for the best!
My portfolio is not doing too hot either. Misery loves company. Great point about going against the herd and things being on sale. I chickened out with all the bad news. Hopefully we get some better days soon.
I just put in a big order for Amazon because I think we’ve hit a low point. I’m hoping it pays off. Gotta get in while the stocks are on sale.
Dude, that portfolio is risky! I have all my money in indexes and ETF’s, I can’t stomach individual stocks. Buy and hold wins the race!
Yeah, it’s actually not so much a portfolio as it is a group of individual stock picks. We aren’t suggesting anyone buy into everything we suggest; just the ones that they like as much as we do.
I like BP and POT. I think they will do well this year. I think you have some other good companies there, but the valuations aren’t right for purchase yet.
The Hoff and I don’t always agree on stuff, so I like some of those stocks more than others. I just love that the market is down because I get ot buy in cheap. I’d buy almost anything at these prices.
I’ve got some stocks in the portfolio that are down as well. My strategy right now will be to do some dollar cost averaging but I’m probably still going to wait until about May right before the summer slowdown.
Well earnings are coming up in April, so you may want to get in before earnings season, which has been driving stocks up for the last few quarters.
Investing in Ford is a good deal right now… they are trading cheap…unfortunately investor speculation screws with the price as usual. I feel the same about GM. The media makes a big deal about Libya, which it is politically, but I dont know if the impact is going to make a difference on the sale of GM vehicles.