Sample Issue and Hotline: See For Yourself

For Monday, February,6 2012

Posted at 12:30 pm on 1/5/12

 

Good News Helps

 

Was last week the pivotal week we've been waiting for--the week when the market tells us whether or not this is a sustainable rally? Only time will tell us for sure. But the news certainly has been tilting to the upside lately. Even good jobs numbers, cutting the unemployment rate to 8.3% annualized.

 

            The good news certainly helps stock prices. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 2906, up 3.2% for the week, closing in on the 3000 mark it has seen for more than ten years. The S&P 500 jumped 2.2% to 1345, the Dow 1.6% to 12862, the Russell 2000 small caps an amazing 4.5% to 831.

 

            This puts the Nasdaq universe up 20% since the Nov. 25 market low. The Dow and S&P have risen about 15%. And the rampaging small caps are up 25%.

 

            Portfolios Fully Invested. The new issue of USIR posted last Tuesday (dated Feb. 3) announced another series of purchases for the model portfolio--designed to take all three to the fully invested level. And Friday's exuberant market gains rewarded both the new stocks and those already added as the market gained momentum during the past five or six weeks. In so doing, we registered our "vote" about the rally's sustainability--although, as always, we set tight stops on all of the new stocks and tightened up the stops on the previous holdings as they registered further price increases.

 

            The USIR Conservative Growth Portfolio, with the addition of Caterpillar (CAT), Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) is now 96% invested in 16 stocks, including those shown in last week's new issue. We've had no stop-loss sales since then, in any of the portfolios. Nine of 16 are up more than 10%, including 17% gains in EMC Corp (EMC) and National Oilwell Varco (NOV).

 

            The USIR Growth Leaders Portfolio, with the addition of Celgene (CELG), Gulfport Energy (GPRO), Owens Corning (OC) and Seagate Technology (STX), is now also 96% invested in 17 stocks. It has two-digit percentage gains in 12 of those stocks, including 18%-20% increases since purchase in Coach (COH), DXP Enterprises (DXPE) and EMC.

 

            The USIR Emerging Growth Portfolio, with the addition of Crocs Inc (CROX), Datalink (DTLK), Netgear (NYGR), Questcor Pharma (QCOR) and Titan Machinery (TITN), is totally invested is 18 stocks--about the maximum we ever own in our highly focused portfolios. It is up 14% year to date with gains of 48% in the above-mentioned DXP Enterprises (which it has owned since last October) and 22% in EMC.

 

            No further portfolio moves are planned, except to raise stop-loss limits as prices continue to advance.