Stocks Only Q&A: 2007 Performance

In 2007, there were three stocks only Q&A sessions (March 2007, June 2007, & September 2007) where members submitted stocks for me to review and provide my opinion on. Based on feedback received in 2006, I placed buy, hold, sell ratings on every stock so that we could objectively measure the usefulness of those opinions after some time had passed.

Now that 2007 is in the rear-view window, let's see how my opinions fared. The performance data below reflects the performance from the date of the Q&A to the last day of 2007 (to see detailed tracking information click on the links below):

• March Q&A: Buys +14.5% (12 gainers & 11 losers)
• March Q&A: Holds +18.8% (17 gainers & 12 losers)
• March Q&A: Sells -1.8% (5 gainers & 6 losers)

• June Q&A: Buys +45.9% (8 gainers & 2 losers)
• June Q&A: Holds -5.7% (5 gainers & 7 losers)
• June Q&A: Sells -1.1% (3 gainers & 2 loser)

• September Q&A: Buys +4.6% (5 gainers & 5 losers)
• September Q&A: Holds +0.3% (8 gainers & 2 losers)
• September Q&A: Sells -16.3% (3 gainers & 7 losers)

As this shows, I should have rated some of my March holds as buys (like ISRG, CMED, AMSC, SIGM) and some of my June holds (SWIR, MER, PRST, MFLO, MS) should have been sells.

In addition, these results confirm something I've known for awhile now - that I simply can do a much better job of offering analysis on stocks that I actually know something about. Unlike both stock only sessions in March and September last year, the Q&A in June I required that members only send in questions about stocks currently found within my favorite stock screens (which I share at the members' only website). That requirement was extremely unpopular among members at the time (which is why I didn't continue that policy with the September Q&A). However, the performance data since confirms why I desired to place that requirement. In the June Q&A, the stocks I rated buy AND which were found within my stock screen machine outperformed everything last year with a +45.9% return. Sure, all of these tracking periods are covering different time frames, but the difference in results are significant.

In 2008, there will be three stocks only Q&A sessions which are scheduled for March, June, & September. I look forward to it!