Through The Looking Glass

Hello Readers!  Been a busy month with vacations, holidays etc.  I am sure your holiday season was busy as well and hopefully a good one.  But I still have been finding time to keep up with my portfolio and the market.

Many of you probably have a balance sheet that looks a lot like mine.  Up and Down and looks like the jagged teeth of a shark.  This is due to many reasons.  One of which, it is the time of year for many companies to get honest.  They are getting their year end figures reported and many companies are facing the fact as are we that many of these companies are not quite as well off as they had lead us to believe.  Examples off the top of my head would be McDonald's (MCD) and Alibaba (BABA).  McDonald's reported much worse earnings than they originally expected or at least lead us to believe.  The year was so bad the CEO is retiring...forced.  Alibaba's reports were much the same.

But how is the market doing overall from my point of view.  As I expected would be the answer.  The market closed at the end of 2014 right were I had predicted at the end of 2013.  Was it an excellent year for the market as we had in 2013?  No, absolutely not.  But the market was up for the year 2014 and within the range of my expectations.  Look forward to much the same kind of year for 2015.  The market in most areas will continue to grow.  McDonald's itself will most likely post another down year for 2015.  So don't look for any growth or help there.  McDonald's has saturated the global market and has little growth potential right now.  Along with the fact that a new CEO from their European market will be coming to take over.  With a new CEO coming on board it takes time to straighten out the messes of a predecessor.  Don't look hard at oil and energy.  It will be another disappointing year for this sector.  OPEC and the oil producing nations of the Middle East will keep prices low and continue with their current strategies.  Some Utility companies will continue to do well as will Tech stocks, Healthcare, and some Manufacturing.  Expect to see slow growth in markets involving Real Estate.  Good Mutual Fund holdings will still remain the safest place for 2015 as it was in 2014 verses Individual Stocks.

But some companies continue to thrive.  Three companies this past week announced stock splits this week.  But do your math and see that they meet the criteria before investing.  I have explained my criteria and strategy for stock splits in several previous Blog postings.  The first stock that is going to split is Visa (V) with a 4:1 split.  Rollins (ROL) with a 3:2 split.  Rollins is a service company dealing primarily in pest control.  And Hanesbrand (HBI) with a 4:1 spit.  I am sure you are familiar with Hanes underwear and clothing.  Personally I never invest in a stock split of less than 2:1.  So for me Rollins would not meet my criteria and I would look in another direction.

Hope my information has been useful to you today.  There is money to be made in 2015.  We just need to keep our eyes and ears open and find it.

Gus S.


Disclaimer: Make sure to review any information found on this blog site with your personal financial advisor before making any decisions. I am providing general information and not financial advise. I am not a licensed stockbroker or financial advisor.