Hilary: great smile, great dimples, and best of all, GREAT calls... (Sorry, I just can't be PC -- not in a blog.)
Hilary Kramer (HK) in her stock blog, HilaryOnStocks, has changed direction and decided to make people money by saving them some money, suggesting it may be time to bail out of certain holdings. Generally speaking, her comments on the 10 stocks she reviewed were very good.
However, I must take exception to the overall principle of trading in and out of stocks because that may not be smart for certain investors. For example, she suggests that Apple may be over, with its long run-up behind it and that taking some profits is in order. I made a similar argument last week.
More in depth review might reveal that if you got in early and live in a high tax state like California you are looking at losing 22% to 24% of your gain to taxes when you add the state tax to the federal capital gains tax and then add up the transaction fees. So while HK is correct that Apple may start moving lower, the question is by how much?
Also, you must consider where you will put the money when you get it. And if you put it in cash or short-term investments, then when will you get back into the market and what will you buy? And you will be putting back 25% less perhaps.
I am not against paying taxes or rotating out of questionable companies, but you must always look at the broad picture as it applies to your own situation.
Here's my take on the 10 stocks she suggests selling:
Home Depot (HD) and KB Homes (KBH): Solid companies and while they my lag for a while, if you got in at the right price they can be good core holdings depending on your personal circumstances.
Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL), Coach (COH), Gap (GPS), General Motors (GM): You don't need to bother with them now.
Apple (AAPL) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ): Big maybes.
Krispy Kreme (KKD) and Jet Blue (JBLU): No reason to own in any market!
Also check out my recent posts: "Dividends are very sexy -- no joke" and "A bad rap for a bad market"
Google's plan for netbook PCs moves higher into the clouds
Closing Bell: Stock bulls and dollar death (DDRX,GMCR, PEET, SBUX, EBAY, CI, TECD)
So long peak oil, here comes peak uranium
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-14-2006 @ 8:05PM
paul said...
who is hillary?
6-30-2006 @ 3:56PM
wvt915 said...
Why would you list The Home Depot as a "solid company" and give people the impression it's a stock to buy or hold at this time?
Investors have had trouble with management, the board of directors, and the the direction the Home Depot is going.
Price of HD stock has been declining since the first of the year. It hasn't been doing well over the last five years.
This is a stock a person has to gamble on. Flip a coin, cut a deck of cards, roll the dice, then decide if you want to invest. There is no "solid" evidence that this is a "must have in my portfolio" stock.
Todays Home Depot is not the money maker of 5 or 10 or 15 years ago because it's not the same company.