A portfolio of 8 stock picks from the edge

“Don’t you see what’s happening? Potter isn’t selling. Potter’s buying! And why? Because we’re panicky and he’s not.”

-George Bailey

Around mid-week the overall performance of the 8 Stock Portfolio actually dipped into negative territory. At the time, every stock with a financial aspect was being sold into oblivion, dragging down every asset that wasn’t made of gold. The market was either going to capitulate horribly or something was going to happen to prevent it.

On Wednesday I wrote the post Learning from the Market Meltdown and bought another round of investment in the 8 stock portfolio. As difficult as it was seeing the portfolio dip into negative territory, it was even more difficult to step up to the plate and buy once again.  Below are the prices from the Wednesday’s purchases and Friday’s closing prices. Seven out of eight of the purchases posted a double digit gain in less than 3 days.

Massive wealth was both destroyed and created this week. The true long term consequences of the series of steps taken by the government will not be known for some time. As an individual investor, its difficult to know how to interpret everything that has transpired.

My take has always been to remain optimistic that our country can find a way through the current mess. Strong and financially sound businesses will survive and adapt to a new landscape. Investors with a well thought out plan and perseverance will be rewarded.

The 8 Stock Portfolio posted a slight loss of 0.31% this week. This is measured as the change in value from the closing prices on 9/12/2008 to the closing prices on 9/19/2008. This compares to a loss of 0.29% for the Dow, and gains of 0.56% and 0.27% for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 respectively.

From the start on 8/1/2008, the 8 Stock Portfolio is up 17.71%. This compares to a gain of 0.55% for the Dow and losses of 1.60% and 0.41% for the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

Here’s the performance individually for the week:

And here’s the performance from the start: