2010 Stock Recap: The Ongoing Concerns

36 stocks.

That's probably 16 or so more than I'd like to own, from a portfolio management standpoint; it's very difficult to keep track of all of them.

On the other hand, I do like most of these stocks - and they collectively returned 21.6% vs. 15.1% for the S&P 500 - so it will be difficult to prune...but I will have to try.

And now, let's look at all the stocks I've held going into this year, from worst to best - based solely on 2010's performance, while mostly ignoring any intra-year volatility:

GigaMedia (GIGM)
Bought: Feb @ $3.05
Year-closing price: $1.48 (-52%)
Inferior Chinese online gaming company.

Energy Conversion Devices (ENER)
Bought: Feb @ $7.81
Year-closing price: $4.60 (-41%)
Solar stocks didn't bounce back.

Borders (BGP)
Bought: Feb @ $1.25
Year-closing price: $0.90 (-28%)
Should have sold in April ($3.29 high).

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)
Bought: Jul @ $315.50
Year-closing price: $257.75 (-18%)
This stock looks very, very cheap right now.

Prospect Capital (PSEC)
Bought: Feb @ $11.83
Year-closing price: $10.80 (-9%)
Will hold on to, as long as the dividend is funded.

Frontline (FRO)
Year-opening price: $27.32
Year-closing price: $25.37 (-7%)
Again, all about the dividend safety.

Google (GOOG)
Year-opening price: $619.98
Year-closing price: $593.97 (-4%)
Will Android take over tablets like it did smartphones?

BreitBurn Energy Partners (BBEP)
Bought: Nov @ $20.70
Year-closing price: $20.14 (-3%)
Dividend stock.

Cree (CREE)
Bought: Jun @ $66.60
Year-closing price: $65.89 (-1%)
Up-and-down year.

China Real Estate Information (CRIC)
Bought: Feb @ $9.49
Year-closing price: $9.60 (1%)
Business, fundamentals seem good; might have been early.

Annaly Capital Management (NLY)
Bought: Jan @ $17.31, Jun @ $17.16
Year-closing price: $17.92 (4%)
Another dividend stock.

Cherokee (CHKE)
Year-opening price: $17.82
Bought more: Sep @ $18.30
Year-closing price: $18.81 (6%)
Yet another dividend stock.

E*Trade (ETFC)
Bought: Feb @ $15.10
Year-closing price: $16.00 (6%)
Volatile stock; ended up doing little.

Blackstone (BX)
Year-opening price: $13.12
Year-closing price: $14.15 (8%)
Relatively quiet year after a crazy 2009.

Dominion Resources Black Warrior Trust (DOM)
Year-opening price: $14.29
Bought more: Apr @ $14.29
Year-closing price: $15.45 (8%)
My favorite dividend stock.

American Software (AMSWA)
Year-opening price: $6.00
Year-closing price: $6.77 (13%)
Thinly-traded tech stock flies under the radar.

Hugoton Royalty Trust (HGT)
Bought: Mar @ $17.95
Year-closing price: $20.52 (14%)
Sleepy dividend stock.

Vodafone (VOD)
Year-opening price: $23.09
Year-closing price: $26.44 (15%)
Verizon Wireless' better half.

Wells Fargo (WFC)
Year-opening price: $26.99
Year-closing price: $30.99 (15%)
Back on solid ground after a few rough years.

Apache (APA)
Year-opening price: $103.17
Bought more: Sep @ $98.62
Year-closing price: $119.23 (16%)
The best-run oil and gas company out there.

Motorola (MOT)
Year-opening price: $7.76
Year-closing price: $9.07 (17%)
Rescued by Android.

Intel (INTC)
Bought: Aug @ $17.88
Year-closing price: $21.30 (18%)
Remains a very cheap stock.

McDonald's (MCD)
Year-opening price: $62.44
Year-closing price: $76.76 (23%)
The finest restaraunter in the world.

Ace Limited (ACE)
Year-opening price: $50.40
Year-closing price: $62.25 (24%)
A good year for reinsurance.

Baidu (BIDU)
Bought: Jun @ $75.93, Oct @ $101.59
Year-closing price: $96.53 (27%)
The Chinese Google shows no signs of slowing down.

BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT)
Bought: Mar @ $90.47
Year-closing price: $126.54 (40%)
This is a dividend stock?

Citigroup (C)
Year-opening price: $3.31
Year-closing price: $4.73 (43%)
Still hard to trust this bank.

Southern Copper (SCCO)
Year-opening price: $32.91
Year-closing price: $48.74 (48%)
Copper continues its run.

DuPont (DD)
Year-opening price: $33.67
Year-closing price: $49.88 (48%)
208-year-old company has amazing year.

F5 Networks (FFIV)
Bought: Aug @ $87.70
Year-closing price: $130.16 (48%)
My best growth-stock pick of 2010.

Great Northern Iron (GNI)
Year-opening price: $94.00
Year-closing price: $143.00 (52%)
This is a dividend stock???

Apple (AAPL)
Year-opening price: $210.73
Year-closing price: $322.56 (53%)
iPad, iPhone fuel growth for foreseeable future.

Ford (F)
Year-opening price: $10.00
Year-closing price: $16.79 (68%)
The comeback is complete.

American International Group (AIG)
Year-opening price: $29.98
Year-closing price: $57.62 (92%)
Quite possibly, the biggest bailout-beneficiary.

MetroPCS (PCS)
Bought: Feb @ $6.05
Year-closing price: $12.63 (109%)
Second-tier wireless telecom figures to be bought out soon.

Jones Soda (JSDA)
Year-opening price: $0.43
Year-closing price: $1.19 (177%)
Wouldn't bet on a repeat year in 2011.

2010 Stock Recap: The Departed

Another year, another yearly stock review post!

I sold 12 stocks in 2010 after selling just 1 in 2009, so "The Departed" makes its return this year. Having a chance to look back, it's striking not just how poor my selling was, but also that most of these stocks simply should have never been bought in the first place.

Here's a look at all the stocks I've sold in the past year, from best to worst - based solely on 2010's performance, while mostly ignoring any intra-year volatility:

Biovail (BVF)
Year-opening price: $13.96
Sold: Jun @ $16.53 (18%)
Stock-closing price: $26.35 (89%)
Taken out by Valeant Pharmaceuticals. I sold too early.

Ambac (ABKFQ.PK)
Year-opening price: $0.60
Sold: Aug @ $0.67 (11%)
Year-closing price: $0.11 (-82%)
Far and away, my best sell of the year.

Terra Nitrogen (TNH)
Year-opening price: $98.63
Sold: Feb @ $100.50 (2%)
Year-closing price: $108.11 (10%)
Once-skipped, extremely lumpy dividend sealed its fate.

Tidewater (TDW)
Year-opening price: $47.95
Sold: Sep @ $43.98 (-8%)
Year-closing price: $53.84 (12%)
Boring stock had a nice fall rally.

Tesoro (TSO)
Year-opening price: $13.55
Sold: Feb @ $11.81 (-13%)
Year-closing price: $18.54 (37%)
Suspended dividend = removed from portfolio. Sold very near year's low.

Motors Liquidation (MTLQQ.PK)
Year-opening price: $0.47
Sold: Aug @ $0.38 (-18%)
Year-closing price: $0.09 (-81%)
Held on to the ghost of GM for far too long.

PDL BioPharma (PDLI)
Year-opening price: $6.86
Sold: Sep @ $5.16 (-25%)
Year-closing price: $6.23 (-9%)
Determined to be an unstable/at-risk dividend.

Palm (PALM)
Year-opening price: $10.21
Sold/Stock-closing price: $5.70 (-44%)
Rescued by Hewlett-Packard. A low-quality "Distressed" pick.

Blockbuster (BLOAQ.PK)
Year-opening price: $0.39
Sold: Aug @ $0.17 (-56%)
Year-closing price: $0.16 (-59%)
Another low-quality "Distressed" pick. Going to zero.

Jackson Hewitt (JTX)
Year-opening price: $2.47
Sold: Sep @ $0.98 (-60%)
Year-closing price: $2.17 (-12%)
Made a furious "comeback" right after I sold it.

Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB)
Year-opening price: $1.18
Sold: Aug @ $0.37 (-69%)
Year-closing price: $0.30 (-75%)
Another low-quality "Distressed" pick. Going to zero.

YRC Worldwide (YRCW)
Year-opening price: $21.00
Sold: Oct @ $4.14 (-80%)
Year-closing price: $3.72 (-83%)
The hits just keep on coming, don't they?