For my U.S. counterparts, I hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving!  It’s wonderful to put a pause on our busy everyday life, slow down, and enjoy a great meal with family & friends… to catch up with everyone and relax a bit, even if only for a day.

As far as my Portfolio goes, I’m thankful for the monster returns we’ve seen year-to-date.  I wouldn’t have expected 20%+ returns in 2019, but I’ll certainly take it.  Returns like the ones we’ve seen this year are abnormal to say the least, so I’m glad I am able to participate.  However, the year’s not over yet, so let’s see if we can hold onto these current gains.  Last December was a prime example of how quickly things can change.

In the past few Portfolio Thoughts posts I’ve been examining my top 10 Portfolio holdings.  However, this month I thought I’d flip the script and check out the bottom 10 stocks in my Portfolio.

Some of these stocks are starter positions that I’m looking to grow.  Others are high-yielding stocks that will remain at their current levels in an effort to minimize their dividend weight in my Portfolio.

As for the starter positions I’m looking to grow, those include 3M Co. (MMM), Eastman Chemical (EMN), General Dynamics (GD), Cisco Systems (CSCO), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), and Caterpillar (CAT).  At current levels, I’m most interested in MMM, GD and CSCO.

One may notice that I have 3 REITs in the group: W.P. Carey (WPC), Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI) and Iron Mountain (IRM).  While these positions are small from a value weight perspective, their dividend weights are larger.  I don’t have any plans to build on these positions other than through dividend reinvestment.  In fact, WPC could be a candidate for a possible trim, just to bring it more in line with OHI as far as dividend weight goes.

Lastly there’s Kontoor Brands (KTB).  As I mentioned in past articles, I’m monitoring the stock for now, to see how it performs as a standalone entity.  However, the position as it currently stands is too small to be of much Portfolio significance.  Thus, in the coming months, look for me to either sell all the shares I have, or add to them.

As a comparison, these bottom 10 holdings comprise less than 1/10 of my Portfolio value.  This is a far cry from the better than 1/3 value weighting comprised by my top 10 stocks.

 

 

Now for the standard Portfolio Thoughts items… it’s a look at my recent Portfolio transactions, price movement for my Portfolio stocks, and what might be on my watchlist…

 

Transactions

The early half of November saw a decent flurry of transaction activity in my Portfolio.  It included one stock leaving my Portfolio, and another one joining it.  Thus, the number of stocks in my Portfolio remained at 46.  Also, there we additions to three existing portfolio positions.

All the details can be found in my Recent Transactions – CTSH, SBUX, XOM, CSCO, MMM post.  Check it out.

 

Price Movement

Note – my price changes cover closing prices from 10/25 to 11/27.

It was another solid month of Portfolio gains.  My Portfolio recorded just over a 3-to-1 ratio of stocks with price gains compared to price declines.  For the 45 holdings (not counting CSCO which was added very recently), 34 moved higher, while 11 moved lower.

Of the 34 stocks that rose, 3 moved up over 15%, while another 5 stocks climbed better than 10%, and still another 11 gained over 5%.  Gains were widespread to say the least.

Leading the pack of gainers this month was Target (TGT) at 15.48%.  TGT hit the mark with another outstanding earnings report.  This stock has been on fire for the past quarter, logging most of its annual gains during this time.  Oh so close behind in terms of monthly gains was Abbvie (ABBV), rising 15.42%.  ABBV has had a nice quarterly run as well, but has still logged a year-to-date decline.  The last of my three stocks to advance more than 15% this past month was CVS Health (CVS).  Healthcare in general has posted some nice gains recently, and CVS is no exception.

My 5 stocks notching 10%+ price gains last month were UNH with a climb of 14.60%, TCF Financial (TCF) with an advance of 11.64%, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) with a gain of 10.68%, Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) with a 10.63% move up, and Hormel Foods (HRL) logging a 10.62% gain.  These stocks are from 5 different sectors, showing the diversity of the advancing stocks.

Of the 11 stocks that fell in price, only 1 managed to decline more than 10%.   That stock was KTB, which dropped 10.31%.  The price of KTB still seems to be finding its footing after the company was spun off from VF Corp (VFC) earlier this year.

My 3 stocks that managed to fall more than 5% were all REITs.  I think I can tell which sector didn’t participate in last month’s gains!  🙂  This list of decliners included WPC which fell 7.74%, IRM which pulled back 6.19%, and Crown Castle International (CCI) which sagged 5.12%.  The two other REITs in my Portfolio, Realty Income (O) and OHI, posted price declines this past month as well… on the order of 3%-4%.

 

Watch List

With the market delivering positive returns over the past couple of months, good purchase prices are getting harder to find, but that doesn’t stop me from looking.

I do have some proceeds remaining from my two most recent stock sales, as well as some cash.  Thus, I should be able to make a small purchase or two when the time is right.

Within my Portfolio, here are some stocks that I’m watching for possible additions…

Earlier, I noted 6 stock positions from my bottom 10 that I’d like to see grow.  If I was to add to that list from my collection of other Portfolio stocks, I’d include Texas Instruments (TXN) and Comcast (CMCSA).

I always seem to be looking to add to my Technology holdings.  Even my recent purchase of CSCO leaves room for more tech.  If TXN pulled back to the $115 level I’d consider adding some shares.

As for CMCSA, it’s part of a sector that doesn’t have a big weighting in my Portfolio – Communication Services.  Thus, I could see adding some shares.  CMCSA has performed well for me since I initiated a position back in March 2018.  I even added a few shares on the last day of 2018 at an even lower price.  A decline to the lower $40s might induce a small add-on purchase.

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

My watch of Boeing (BA) and FedEx (FDX) continue, but I’m not close to purchasing either one.

Last month I noted I was looking at Disney (DIS), but after a run up since then, DIS has left my watchlist.

In general, not much has entered my radar from outside my Portfolio.  Long-term, I’d like to fit Automatic Data Processing (ADP) into my Portfolio.  If the stock dropped below $160 I’d be motivated to initiate a small position.  I know I’d watch the company more closely even if I held just a few shares.

 

Thoughts?

Is cash piling up for you while you wait for lower stock prices?  Or are you figuring out a way to deploy your cash regardless of fewer potential values out in the marketplace?  Please share your thoughts!