I’ve always found that buying stocks is easy while selling them requires tough decisions. I mean; when they are underperforming, you hope that they will bounce back. And when they are outperforming, you will continue to surf the wave and become greedy. On Monday, I told you what I will do with my underperforming stocks. Today, I’m looking at stocks that have been good for me so far.
In my portfolio, I have 3 stocks that have been particularly good so far (click on their name to get my previous analysis):
Chevron (CVX): +15.27%
Intel (INTC): +25.85%
Telus (T): +4.01%
The decision of selling a stock to cash in its profit and move it is a very tough one. Personally, I’m having more difficulties selling a performing stock than taking my loss and moving forward (as I did with RIM last year). As is the case for underperforming stocks, you can also set a limit in the profit you are willing to cash out and look for another profitable trade. For example, I could decide to sellINTC because it went up by more than 20%… but I won’t… because I would rather take a closer look at the future potential of a stock. Basically, I’m doing as if I was going to buy it today.
So let’s take a closer look at each of them to see if I should sell them or not.
Chevron CVX
CVX is obviously linked to oil prices. I’ve mentioned Monday that we expect another rocky year in this field but I think that it will still be a winning sector. At the first sign of economic recovery, this is the kind of stock you want to have in your portfolio. It’s a great dividend payer that will pay you to wait on the sidelines and will reward you with more added value during economic booms. I think we are closer to a growth cycle than a recession in the States and this is why I’m keeping CVX.
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Decision: CVX is a keeper.
Intel INTC
INTChas surprisingly posted high growth profits in 2011 and I think it will continue to perform well. Their first success in entering the tablet and smartphone industries could lead to interesting market shares in the future. With a great dividend payout combined with interesting markets to develop, I thinkINTCwill continue to grow in 2012.
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Decision: INTC is a keeper
Telus T
Telus results have been good and had confirmed a recent dividend increase (as previously announced by the board). The telecom industry inCanadaseems to be in a pretty good shape (bothBCEand Rogers have done well lately). With a 4% increase, it’s not the end of the world (mind you, plus the dividend, we are at +8%) so I will keep it for now too. In my opinion, I’ve just seen Telus start working for me.
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Decision: T is a keeper as well
I’m Not Too Keen On Selling As You Can See…
I don’t know if it will blow up in my face but I’m willing to take the chance and keep my 3 best performing stocks. Do you think I should sell one of them? For the time being, I think I’ll just wait a few more months and sell ZWB for another purchase… more trades to come in 2012 😉