Topping 50

Almost every month, MSN Money publishes their top 50 stocks to invest in based on their screener. In all fairness, their screener is pretty good. MSN Money's StockScouter tool was created in 2001 to help investors assess individual stocks' likelihood of outperforming the broader market.

Jon Markman, a contributing author to MSN Money, collaborated with the company to devise strategies for putting the tool to work.

One of Markman's strategies involves investing an equal amount of money in each of the stocks in the computer-generated portfolio at the start of the month, selling them at the end of the month, then beginning the process again the next month. For investors who prefer to handle fewer stocks, Markman recommends using the strategy with the top 10 stocks on the list.

An investor who followed Markman's 10-stock strategy since it was launched would have realized a gain of 453% through Feb. 28, according to Gradient Analytics, for an annual average return of 22%. Over the same period, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) lost 8.8%.

Well, last Monday, MSN Money published their Top 50 Stocks for March. In the article they talk about one of the stocks which showed up on my previous month watch list. Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS).

Recently, Pepsi agreed to pay $900 million for the rights to sell the Dr Pepper Snapple beverages bottled and distributed by the two big Pepsi bottlers that it recently acquired. Shares of Dr Pepper Snapple spiked 11% to $32.02 on Feb. 25 on news of the Coca-Cola deal and the company's solid fourth-quarter earnings report.

That is all well and good, but hind sight is always 20/20. Yes Dr. Pepper is still and decent investment but it would have been nice to have had it on a February watch list... Like Mine!

Every now and then, I keep track of MSN's monthly top 50 just to see how they do compared to my watch lists.

I think I will see how they do compared to mine for March.

Also, every now and then, patience pays off. Another stock from my February Watch Lists, Family Dollar (FDO) has been doing OK but has not really shown the "Pop" that I was looking for in the expected breakout... Until yesterday.

Yesterday, like other retail news, Family Dollar announce a nearly 4% increase in sales for Snowy February and increased their second quarter outlook. This news pushed the stock up 8%. Not too shabby. Lets see if it can keep the momentum going.

Until later...

Be Good. Do Well. Have Fun.