by Jack Lee
Monday’s stock market looks dull so far, but these days dull is a relief. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of the whipsaw, whiplash stock gyrations! 400 pts up, 500 pts down…give me a break! Today by mid morning the DOW was down a mere 50 pts. I can live with that, it’s 500 pt swings that have our nerves in tatters!
Let’s look at some so-called bargain stocks, I say “so-called” because since their author advised buying them “to bring in the new year” they have lost about 11% in total value and it’s only been a few weeks since the report came out! Yikes. Ok, here are the gems Kiplinger’s suggested for 09 and they are in no particular order: Generdal Dynamics, Johnson and Johnson, Automatic Data Processing, American Tower, Oracle, Google, Accenture and Thermo Fisher Scientific. ADP was the only stock up since this investor’s report was published and it only gained about 4%.
I see Fairholme Fund has weathered the financial storm better than most, so here’s a couple of tips on their major holdings: Pfizer (PFE) and Sears Holding (SHLD) are their two big plays. They also own UNH, LUK, BRK.A, CNQ, DISH, MHK, WLP and FRX.
Now from BRIEFING.COM. Stocks have pared their losses, but continue to trade meaningfully lower. Though only 1-in-6 components are trading with a gain, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is outperforming its counterparts on a relative basis. The strongest performers include Exxon Mobil (XOM 81.19, +0.74) and Chevron (CVX 79.27, +0.27), thanks to higher oil (+2.4%).
So there you go boys and girls, my Monday morning market update. Invest wisely, this recession is showing no signs of improving, in fact every day we get more layoffs and more bad company reports, so we have every reason to belief the worst is yet to come.
PS If you are giving to a 401k and you may be facing a layoff, this is a good time to stop the contributions and go to savings. Good luck!