2009 Stock Recap

2009 was a pretty good year for the portfolio - a 39.0% return vs. 23.5% for the S&P 500, and only 1 stock sold after a ridiculous 19 the previous year:

Atlas Resources (ATN)/Atlas Energy (ATLS)
Year-opening price: $14.85
Sold: Apr @ $28.47 (92%)
Year-closing price: $30.14 (103%)

With that out of the way, here are the ongoing concerns, ranked from worst to best:

Motors Liquidation (MTLQQ.PK)
Bought: Feb @ $3.00 (as GM)
Year-closing price: $0.47 (-84%)
Slowly but surely meandering its way to zero.

YRC Worldwide (YRCW)
Bought: Feb @ $2.90
Year-closing price: $0.84 (-71%)
Shaping up as a lottery ticket due to likely bankruptcy.

Frontline (FRO)
Year-opening price: $29.61
Sold: Nov @ $23.99 (-19%)
Re-bought: Dec @ $29.30
Year-closing price: $27.32 (-7%)
Did a terrible job of trading, but I still like the business.

Dominion Resources Black Warrior Trust (DOM)
Year-opening price: $16.60
Year-closing price: $14.29 (-14%)
Saved by the dividend.

Jones Soda (JSDA)
Bought: Feb @ $0.46
Year-closing price: $0.43 (-7%)
Sugar-high, then sugar-crash for this stock.

Ace Limited (ACE)
Year-opening price: $52.92
Year-closing price: $50.40 (-5%)
A still-very-sleepy financial company.

Citigroup (C)
Bought: Feb @ $3.41
Year-closing price: $3.31 (-3%)
America's worst bank, desperately needs to be broken up and sold off.

Cherokee (CHKE)
Bought: May @ $18.30
Year-closing price: $17.82 (-3%)
11% dividend yield.

Great Northern Iron (GNI)
Bought: Oct @ $94.73
Year-closing price: $94.00 (-1%)
Most recent commodity play, bought near the top.

PDL BioPharma (PDLI)
Bought: Jun @ $6.94
Year-closing price: $6.86 (-1%)
14.5% dividend yield.

McDonald's (MCD)
Bought: Nov @ $62.49
Year-closing price: $62.44 (0%)
Hoping for international growth, and domestic stability.

Tesoro (TSO)
Year-opening price: $13.17
Year-closing price: $13.55 (3%)
An up-and-down stock - not for the faint of heart.

DuPont (DD)
Bought: Sep @ $32.36
Year-closing price: $33.67 (4%)
Big and boring, just like I hoped.

Vodafone (VOD)
Bought: Oct @ $21.47
Year-closing price: $23.09 (8%)
Should be sure and steady growth for years.

Terra Nitrogen (TNH)
Year-opening price: $94.25
Year-closing price: $104.08 (10%)
The 6% dividend helps here.

American International Group (AIG)
Bought: Feb @ $25.40 (split-adjusted)
Year-closing price: $29.98 (18%)
I have no idea where this stock is going.

Tidewater (TDW)
Year-opening price: $40.27
Year-closing price: $47.95 (19%)
A quietly solid year for this offshore oil services company.

Biovail (BVF)
Bought: Apr @ $10.92
Year-closing price: $13.96 (28%)
Bought strictly for the dividend (which was slashed), but capital gains have made up for it.

Apache (APA)
Year-opening price: $74.53
Year-closing price: $103.17 (38%)
Nice bounceback for this oil and gas company.

Blackstone (BX)
Bought: Feb @ $4.43, Jul @ $10.17
Year-closing price: $13.12 (38%)

My favorite weasels of Wall Street.

Wells Fargo (WFC)
Bought: Feb @ $18.40
Year-closing price: $26.99 (47%)
America's finest bank (not that that really means anything).

American Software (AMSWA)
Bought: Mar @ $3.52
Year-closing price: $6.00 (70%)
Nice little tech stock.

Motorola (MOT)
Bought: Feb @ $4.43
Year-closing price: $7.76 (75%)
The phone slump could be over with the Droid.

Fannie Mae (FNM)
Bought: Feb @ $0.60
Year-closing price: $1.18 (97%)
Some people believe this stock is worthless, and I'm not certain they're wrong.

Google (GOOG)
Year-opening price: $307.65
Year-closing price: $619.98 (102%)
2009 was the year Android finally broke through.

Southern Copper (PCU)
Year-opening price: $16.06
Year-closing price: $32.91 (105%)
Copper a big participant in the commodity bull run, version 2.0.

Apple (AAPL)
Year-opening price: $85.35
Year-closing price: $210.73 (147%)
Can the iPhone and App Store be stopped?

Ford (F)
Bought: Feb @ $1.86
Year-closing price: $10.00 (438%)
Dare I say it, the great American car company.