A tradition unlike any other...
2019 was a great year. My portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 by +8.5%, gaining 40.0% vs. 31.5%. It is my 2nd best rate of return after 2003 (46.5%) and 4th best relative to the S&P 500 after 2003 (+17.8%), 2009 (+12.5%), and 2017 (+11.9). I am most proud of my 63.6% savings return for the year, pushing my net worth to an all-time high...and achieving a major milestone level.
We're going to keep 2020 just like 2019, and continue hammering away at limited number of winning investments (the specifics of which are coming very soon).
And now, let's look at all the stocks I've held going into this year, from worst to best - based solely on 2019's performance, while mostly ignoring any intra-year volatility:
CSX (CSX)
Year-opening price: $62.13
Bought more: Jan @ $61.36
Year-closing price: $72.36 (16%)
Hauling heavy things will always be useful, part one.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH)
Year-opening price: $249.12
Bought more: Jun @ $238.13
Year-closing price: $293.98 (18%)
Monster revenues, cash flows, dividend. Expanded Medicare a concern.
Salesforce (CRM)
Year-opening price: $136.97
Bought more: Oct @ $146.06
Year-closing price: $162.64 (19%)
Worst-performing tech stock in my portfolio.
Canadian National Railway (CNI)
Year-opening price: $74.11
Year-closing price: $90.45 (22%)
Hauling heavy things will always be useful, part two.
Amazon (AMZN)
Year-opening price: $1501.97
Bought more: Jul @ $1919.00
Year-closing price: $1847.84 (23%)
Inexplicably, has upside of 31% and 42% vs. market caps of peers MSFT and AAPL.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)
Year-opening price: $478.92
Year-closing price: $591.15 (23%)
A company without peers.
Tesla (TSLA)
Year-opening price: $332.80
Year-closing price: $418.33 (26%)
The most successful company of the 2020's?
Intel (INTC)
Year-opening price: $46.93
Year-closing price: $59.85 (28%)
Has been surpassed by NVDA, but will still make lots of money.
Waste Management (WM)
Year-opening price: $88.99
Year-closing price: $113.96 (28%)
Some real hot trash.
Alphabet (GOOGL)
Year-opening price: $1044.96
Year-closing price: $1339.39 (28%)
Mild underperformer for two years in a row. Needs a cloud presence vs. AMZN and MSFT.
Norfolk Southern (NSC)
Year-opening price: $149.54
Bought more: Jan @ $148.87, Mar @ $180.11
Year-closing price: $194.13 (30%)
Hauling heavy things will always be useful, part three.
Union Pacific (UNP)
Year-opening price: $138.23
Bought more: Jan @ $135.97
Year-closing price: $180.79 (31%)
Hauling heavy things will always be useful, part four.
Comcast (CMCSA)
Year-opening price: $34.05
Bought more: Jun @ $41.45, Sep @ $44.32
Year-closing price: $44.97 (32%)
5G a looming concern. Needs to talk to Verizon.
American Water Works (AWK)
Year-opening price: $90.77
Bought more: Apr @ $104.15
Year-closing price: $122.85 (35%)
Water is the new oil.
Starbucks (SBUX)
Year-opening price: $64.40
Bought more: Sep @ $94.36
Year-closing price: $87.92 (37%)
Long-awaited breakout after years of underperformance.
Nike (NKE)
Year-opening price: $74.14
Year-closing price: $101.31 (37%)
Three year winning streak. Long-term growth story.
Visa (V)
Year-opening price: $131.94
Year-closing price: $187.90 (42%)
The best proxy for commerce that money can buy.
Autodesk (ADSK)
Year-opening price: $128.61
Year-closing price: $183.46 (43%)
Broke out in 2016, and hasn't looked back.
Costco Wholesale (COST)
Year-opening price: $203.71
Bought more: Dec @ $295.13
Year-closing price: $293.92 (44%)
The finest (brick and mortar) retailer in the world.
Adobe (ADBE)
Year-opening price: $226.24
Year-closing price: $329.81 (46%)
Has been on an incredible 7-year run of growth and outperformance.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Year-opening price: $101.57
Bought more: Mar @ $112.87, Jul @ $136.00, Sep @ $137.17, Oct @ $136.34
Year-closing price: $157.70 (55%)
The Satya Nadella winning streak continues. Now a legitimate force in the cloud.
Facebook (FB)
Year-opening price: $131.09
Year-closing price: $205.25 (57%)
Cash cow had a big bounce-back year.
Kansas City Southern (KSU)
Year-opening price: $95.45
Year-closing price: $153.16 (60%)
Hauling heavy things will always be useful, part five.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Bought: May @ $26.90, Aug @ $29.48, Dec @ $37.35
Year-closing price: $45.86 (70%)
166% upside remaining to match market cap of NVDA.
NVIDIA (NVDA)
Year-opening price: $133.50
Bought more: Feb @ $145.37, Apr @ $183.21, May @ $180.86, Aug @ $161.19, Nov @ $206.00
Year-closing price: $235.30 (76%)
China deal removes any obstacles to future growth. Deep learning, AI, and datacenters/cloud computing leader.
Apple (AAPL)
Year-opening price: $157.74
Year-closing price: $293.68 (86%)
The best company in the world, bar none.
