As goes January, so goes the year! Or so the January Effect saying goes. If the first few days of 2012 is a sign of things to come, we’re in for a good year. At least that’s the hope.
Better 2012
The folks over at Betterment have put on a Blogging For A Better New Year event. It’s an article a day about the importance of setting goals for your life and investments, written by some of the best finance bloggers out there. How I was included is beyond me. Most likely just a filler, but proud of the opportunity nonetheless. Mostly because I finished writing it three weeks in advance. The collection has been great reading so far. Check it out.
Money Pro Challenge
A stock picking challenge is being had over at Money Pros and I tossed my picks into the fray. The rules are fairly simple: pick 3 stocks that you think will do well in 2012, submit them, and wait.
I thought I’d put my money where my mouth is and submit 3 stocks I own (but reserve the right to sell at any time). Here’s my picks:
- New York Community Bancorp. (NYB) - The lone bank stock and dividend play of the bunch.
- MGM Resorts (MGM) – MGM is a play on an economic recovery in the US, specifically Vegas.
- Whiting Petroleum (WLL) – Energy is always a good play and oil is king.
Being a competition I’d like to point out I’m up almost 8% for the first week. Too bad we can’t take profits along the way.
Disclosure: I own shares of NYB, MGM, and WLL.
Last Call
I have to say finding recommendations the first week of the year is difficult. My feed reader was bulging with new posts to read but 95% of them were about goals. Which is good, it’s January, a new year and resolution time. Having goals are good. Reading about them all week, not so much. Here’s some goalless reads to check out:
- As a stock nut I found this interesting. Thousandaire asks what do”experts” know about stockpicking? He’ll be comparing expert stock picks against amateur and simply ridiculous picks. I’d bet against the experts.
- Neo offers up the tax sham of Roth IRAs and Roth 401k. Sure there are benefits, but do they outweigh the costs?
- Evan at MJTM asks why his tax dollars are paying for new public employee’s pension plans? A topic both sides will be arguing for some time. Head over and make your opinion known.
- I don’t drive or have a license, but apparently some people do. YFS tells us how to get out of a speeding ticket. A possible New Years resolution?
- Came across this today just as I was finishing up. Nelson tells us why you shouldn’t go to college. No beating around the bush there.
Cheers
Thanks to Ultimate Juggle and Net Worth Protect for sharing us with their readers.
JP, thanks for the double-mention! Up 8% already, strong work…
As a long term investor, I am intrigued by these contests. I’ve found it quite difficult to predict short term stock movements. Long term, it’s a lot easier.
I feel the same way Barb, but since its just a contest I figured I have nothing to lose. So I looked at what I already owned and chose the three I thought would perform best this year.
I would agree. Short term is tricky. Plus being an index investor myself it is really hard to even see the gain over the short term. They are good for entertainment though.
You figuring casinos in Vegas for a rebound eh? PS, just to give credit where it is due, the post on our site was the initial post by our new staff writer Nelson Smith.
I’ve been patiently waiting on the Vegas rebound for a while. Recent good news out of Vegas was an increase in hiring for the first time in a long time. A good sign for the casinos. There is also the online gambling potential and continued expanding MGM Brand overseas. Debt is the biggest issue but revenue has been improving the last two years.
Oh, I fixed the credit issue.
Good luck with the competition!
Thanks, I need all I can get.
Nice job picking some great stocks! Sometime in the first quarter, they’ll have a leaderboard in place.