Welcome to the September update of Plan 5 Picks. After a few rocky months, it’s nice to see some strong positive movement this time around. Here are the Plan 5 Monthly results for August:
Plan 5 Monthly: September 2014 Results
| Aug 1 Open | Aug 29 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activision Blizzard (ATVI) | 22.42 | 23.54 | +5% |
| Illumina (ILMN) | 160.42 | 179.36 | +11.81% |
| Tesla Motors (TSLA) | 226.09 | 269.70 | +19.29% |
| Under Armour (UA) | 66.92 | 68.36 | +2.15% |
| WhiteWave Foods Company (WWAV) | 29.66 | 35.02 | +18.07% |
| Plan 5 Monthly: August 2014 | +11.26% | ||
| S&P 500 | 1929.80 | 2003.37 | +3.81% |
Each of last month’s picks showed some growth, with WhiteWave and Tesla leading the pack.
This month’s set of picks doesn’t see much change from last month’s, with only Activision Blizzard being replaced by Sierra Wireless. Here are the September Plan 5 Monthly picks:
Plan 5 Monthly: September 2014 Picks
| Company | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Illumina | ILMN |
| Sierra Wireless | SWIR |
| Tesla Motors | TSLA |
| Under Armor | UA |
| WhiteWave Foods | WWAV |
If you’re following along with Plan 5 Monthly, you’ll want to rebalance your portfolio at this point. You can find a refresher on how to do that right here. Or, even easier, you can try out the new Balance Calculator tool that will do the math for you.
If instead you’re following Plan 5 Quarterly, it’s not time to make any trades this month, but let’s take a look at how the current picks are doing one month in. Here are the results so far:
Plan 5 Quarterly: September 2014 Progress Report
| Aug 1 Open | Aug 29 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illumina (ILMN) | 160.42 | 179.36 | +11.81% |
| Nuance Communications (NUAN) | 18.08 | 17.01 | -5.92% |
| Tesla Motors (TSLA) | 226.09 | 269.70 | +19.29% |
| Under Armour (UA) | 66.92 | 68.36 | +2.15% |
| WhiteWave Foods Company (WWAV) | 29.66 | 35.02 | +18.07% |
| Plan 5 Quarterly: Aug – Sept 2014 Progress | +9.08% | ||
| S&P 500 | 1929.80 | 2003.37 | +3.81% |
Plan 5 Monthly also gained some ground this month, though not quite as much.
Finally, here’s a look at Plan 5’s overall progress from the beginning:
We can look at this month’s gains as being the payoff for waiting through several months of poor performance. But I’d prefer to opt out of the month-by-month emotional roller coaster ride altogether, and just recognize both the ups and the downs as all simply being what comes with the territory of implementing a long term investing plan.
I’ll be back at the end of September with the next update.
Thrive!
Mike Ferrier