A Good Month

Well, March was actually a good month.

The NCAA March Madness has been absolutely wonderful to watch.

The Capitals have locked up a top spot in the playoffs.

The Redskins have shown some sanity in free agency.

And I did OK with my investments too.

So much so, that I am now beating all of the averages after the first three months.

I will try and update my resolutions page and publish April's watch lists this weekend.

I say try because it is Easter weekend and my daughters birthday monday.

Here is a quick look at my covestor tracker for the 1st quarter of 2010.

I can thank Family Dollar (FDO) and Aeropostale (ARO) for the nice gains this month.

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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.

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Looking to Break Out

As I sit here watching

Yet MORE snow fall...

My children home from school for the 7th + day 8th + in a row!
They just canceled school for Tuesday!
That's it, I want to move someplace where either, they do not ever get snow, or where they know how to plow it and clear the Roads!!!

We never had this problem when I lived in upstate NY or New England.

Sheesh...

Watching The Olympics on TV...

I am looking for a break out from this routine.

And a break out stock pattern to help boost my returns...

So lets take a look at how my February watch lists have done so far.

Starting Line Up
















UNP - Appears to be gaining strength since the beginning of the month and looking like a better buy.

CEPH - This is an intriguing stock pattern that is looking more and more like a cup and handle pattern. Could be a good break out candidate.

ODSY - has recovered nicely off of its recent pull back and reports later this week.

HQS - Looking like it has settled above low resistance and is trying to reverse trend back upwards. This last 2nd low point is higher than previous low point.

ROST - Another stock looking to post sequentially higher lows.


Bench
















CHE - has recovered nicely since it recent pull back from earlier highs. Reports Tuesday . A good report could be all this needs to break out upwards through top end.

FDO - My current holding - waiting for it to break out up past resistance . It has started this break out pattern buy I am wondering how strong of a pattern it will be.

SSYS - Recovering nicely off of pull back and is looking like another stock with a good upwards cup pattern

POWL - is sliding back down towards previous low point. May be setting up a good double bottom reverse or W pattern.

SHE - Has had a whopping turn around and break out back up. This is still a good but volatile stock. I am wishing now that I had the courage to bet that it would not loose its 50 day moving average support level. Which it has not broken once in the past six months.

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