The end of 2018 is upon us.  Lots of activity in the markets, and plenty of activity in my Portfolio, too… especially in Q4.

Before I close out the year though, I’ve got one last scheduled post to deliver, and it’s my Portfolio Thoughts.

I’ve got my December transactions to summarize, lots of downward-trending Portfolio stock prices to look at, and a quick examination of my current watch list.

I may also cover potential improvements to Portfolio holdings.  This includes discussion of thoughts about stocks/sectors I want to overweight or underweight, or stocks I wish to add or remove.

 

Transactions

December was yet another month filled with an above-average number of Portfolio transactions.  There were multiple purchases and sales.  This month I injected a little more capital than I usually do, but I felt the time was right for some purchases.  The sales were partial sales of existing holdings, and the purchases were mainly additions to existing holdings.  Although, one purchase resulted in a new position for the Portfolio.

The first transaction for December actually took place on the last day of November.  I’m reporting it here in December since the transaction came after my last Portfolio Thoughts post.  I sold some shares of Abbvie (ABBV) which a were on a recent run.  I reported this transaction in my Monthly Dividend Income (Nov. 2018) post.

Over the first half of the month I added shares of Gilead Sciences (GILD), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), and Target (TGT) on separate days.  The JPM position is a new one for my Portfolio.  You can read about these purchases in my Recent Buys (GILD, JPM, TGT) post.

Finally, on the 18th of the month, I sold some shares of Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI), bought back the ABBV shares I sold on that last day of November at a reduced price, and then added a few more shares of Altria (MO).  All these transactions were covered in my Recent Transactions (OHI, ABBV, MO) post.

The result of all the transactions was a net cash investment of $4,364.66.

After initiating the one new position, the number of stocks in my Portfolio rose to 42.

 

Price Movement

Note – my monthly price changes include closing prices from 11/29 to 12/28.

After a November that saw my Portfolio value go up after a rough October, December wiped out those November gains, and then some!

There is not much positive price movement to report from December.  Only 2 of my 42 holdings managed to post a gain!  To top it off, none of those were close to the 10% mark I usually report on.  The stock gainers were Abbvie (ABBV) and Air Products & Chemicals (APD), at 1.35% and 0.94% respectively.  Needless to say, December was brutal when this is the best I can report.

My next best “positive” performers were Realty Income (O) with a loss of 0.45%, Nike (NKE) with a loss 1.05%, and Lowe’s Companies (LOW) with a loss of 1.43%.  This group held up relatively well given all the market chaos.

So, the number of stocks to the downside was 40 of 42, with an astounding 15 stocks down over 10%.

The worst of the bunch for December were Air Lease (AL) falling 22.76%, Hanesbrands (HBI) dropping 22.16%, Cardinal Health declining 18.97%, CVS Health wilting 18.51%, and Bank OZK (OZK), giving up 15.74%.  It seems no sectors were spared in the downtrend, although I had a couple of healthcare names in my worst 5 performers, as just noted.

Let’s hope for a turnaround to start the new year!

 

Watch List

I’ve found myself adding to existing positions recently, rather than initiating new ones.  The JPM addition was an exception.

With the stock price declines for December still present, I wish I could add more than I have, as many stocks (including several on my watchlist) have recently reached a price not seen in quite some time.  However, cash is still limited.  So, I’ll just keep watching, hoping for a chance to buy when cash is available, and trying to select the best of the current options at that time.

Here are some of my Portfolio stocks that I’m watching for possible additions…

I’m still interested in increasing my weighting in Texas Instruments (TXN).  I’m looking to add to TXN below $90, and it actually crossed below $88 on each day on either side of Christmas, but I wasn’t ready to purchase.  We’ll see if I get another chance.

Comcast (CMCSA) is another position I’d like to build on.  I was looking to add below $35, and it’s at that level now.  In fact, it dipped below $33 on the day after Christmas.

My last addition of MO was in the $51 range less than two weeks ago.  With MO now trading below $49, adding about 10 shares at this level would allow me to round out my position at 100+ shares.

Doubling my JPM position would be desirable as well if it trades below $96.  The stock was there most of last week, but investment capital was not available.  JPM is not too far away from that level now, so perhaps another opportunity awaits in the near-term.

With only one trading day left in 2018.  I’m considering realizing losses on some of my CAH shares and all of my HBI shares and making some purchases of the names I just mentioned.

As for non-Portfolio stocks that I’m watching…

I continue watching the same big names I have been watching – General Dynamics (GD), Cummins (CMI), 3M (MMM), FedEx (FDX) and Boeing (BA)… and their prices all dropped significantly this month.  However, I haven’t pulled the trigger on a purchase.  As previously mentioned, I’ve been using new capital to expand existing positions instead.

Currently, CMI is slightly above where I’d like to enter, and BA and MMM are just below.   GD is much lower than I thought it would get, while FDX is a good $50 below a recent target level I had.  FDX seems like the best purchase to me, but there’s so much uncertainty around the company outlook at this point, I feel waiting to initiate a position may be prudent.  There don’t seem to be any near-term catalysts to help stop the decline.

As a wildcard addition to the watch list, the decline of Costco (COST) below $200 has garnered my attention of late.

Happy New Year, everyone!

 

Thoughts?

How has your portfolio transformed over the course of 2018?  Are you planning any overhauls in 2019, or just some tweaks?  Please share your thoughts!