I thought it'd be interesting to see what everyone's number stock pick is and a brief description of why. Good way to get some interesting investment ideas. I guess I'll start. My current Number 1 stock pick is Apple (Ticker:AAPL), it's my largest position and I got in at an average price of about ~$465. Since then it's gone up quite a bit now especially recently but I still like it. The company has an incredible strong balance sheet with ~$160 billion in cash, with limited amount of debt. Recently raised it's stock buyback plans again showing that management believes the share price is trading a attractive valuation. Even if you don't believe in Apple's growth prospects, it's a cash cow and still valued fairly even on most pessimistic growth model projections. Steve Cook has came out to say that Apple will introduce a new product line this year, a potentially catalysts for the stock. The company is also in a space that is in the growth phase, in fact if you think about it. It's not about development countries and smartphones, it's going to be about how the smartphone is going to be integrated with many other items in the future playing an even larger role in people's lives. So in conclusion, it has a lot of cash providing a floor for the stock if things turn south, attractive valuation even with pessimistic assumptions and it's in a industry where the wind is on their side. And also for additional reassurance, many top fund managers that believe in the stock as well such as David Einhorn and Carl Icahn, which are currently AAPL as one of their largest positions.
GLD is my largest single position at the moment. I do still like AAPL, and I have a number of others I like a great deal as well. A few others off the top of my head I own quite a bit of include IEP, UHAL, SWHC, RGR, BIDU... Pretty substantial holdings in CLR, BRK.B, GPOR, EOG, GTAT, GOOG, SLB, and MU also. Some other smaller positions in other holdings as well.
I hope you got in GLD recently, the 3 year chart looks like a train wreck. I think GLD has bottomed out though, but think it's gonna be range bound for some time.
Wow, just reading this topic made me want go get on the GLD train. That's a really diverse portfolio JR, any reason to have a finger in so many pots? Are you frequently buying/selling or do you let them gain a lot of value before selling?
Diversity is good because it reduces systematic risk. That's really not that diverse of a portfolio though, nothing out of the ordinary.
Energizer looks like a good long-term investment. With the split of the two companies announced last week, the personal care division will become very attractive for a buyout from other companies, further improving its outlook.
I would say MTN Group, a South African telecom boasting more than 200 million customers across 22 countries in African in the Middle east. The African Market has virtually unlimited potential in growth. MTN Group is reasonable priced and pays a dividend.
Apple is hard to beat. It will be around for a long time. I would stick with that as my number one pick.
High five wanderingwildman. Apple just hit $600 today, maybe it'll actually breakout of this ceiling. I just took a look at MTN Group, initial scan looks intriguing; but I am not familiar with the African so I'd probably stay away from it for now.
Energzr is an interesting pick. I think it is hard for them to lose money on a regular basis also. We are always going to need batteries for something.