Here comes the very first set of Plan 5 picks! For a review of how Plan 5 works, see last week’s post here.

August 2013 Picks for Plan 5 Monthly:

Caesarstone (CSTE)
Mobile Mini (MINI)
Netflix (NFLX)
Tesla Motors (TSLA)
WisdomTree Investments (WETF)

August 2013 Picks for Plan 5 Quarterly:

Caesarstone (CSTE)
LinkedIn (LNKD)
Netflix (NFLX)
Tesla Motors (TSLA)
WisdomTree Investments (WETF)

Now, in a typical stock picks blog or investment newsletter, this is right about where we’d expect to find a bit of analysis of the picks. This is where I’d talk about how Netflix’s original programming, data-driven approach, brand recognition and content agreements put it in a good position against competitors such as Amazon and Hulu. Or how the size of Mobile Mini’s customer base is going up, while its debt load is going down. But… that’s not what you’ll find here. I use analysis like that to narrow down the field of possibilities, but the final picks are made by a computer algorithm. So, if you’re looking for news and analysis I recommend Google Finance or one of the many newsletters that concentrate on those things. I’ll be focusing on the picks.

The two lists are very similar this month, which is likely to be common. The next set of quarterly picks will arrive at the beginning of November, but I’ll be back at the end of August with a new set of monthly picks and a look at how the first set performed. Until then…

Thrive!

-Mike Ferrier