Welcome to the January update of Plan 5 Picks. It’s nice to be able to start the year with some results that are easy to look at. We’ll begin with the Plan 5 Monthly results for December:
Plan 5 Monthly: December 2014 Results
| Dec 1 Open | Dec 31 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple (AAPL) | 118.81 | 110.38 | -7.1% |
| BJ’s Restaurants (BJRI) | 49.20 | 50.21 | +2.05% |
| Robert Half International (RHI) | 56.18 | 58.38 | +3.92% |
| Sierra Wireless (SWIR) | 37.51 | 47.39 | +26.34% |
| Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance (ULTA) | 126.92 | 127.84 | +0.72% |
| Plan 5 Monthly: December 2014 | +5.19% | ||
| S&P 500 | 2065.78 | 2058.90 | -0.33% |
Sierra Wireless was the big winner this month, with the other picks not moving too far in either direction. The overall gain of 5.19% exceeded both last month’s gain, and the S&P 500’s performance this month. Not bad!
Only one substitutions this month, with Ulta Salon being replaced by CarMax. Here are the January Plan 5 Monthly picks:
Plan 5 Monthly: January 2015 Picks
| Company | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Apple | AAPL |
| BJ’s Restaurants | BJRI |
| CarMax | KMX |
| Robert Half International | RHI |
| Sierra Wireless | SWIR |
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 two months in. Here are the results so far:
Plan 5 Quarterly: January 2015 Progress Report
| Nov 3 Open | Dec 31 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple (AAPL) | 108.22 | 110.38 | +2% |
| BJ’s Restaurants (BJRI) | 44.20 | 50.21 | +13.6% |
| Gilead Sciences (GILD) | 112.31 | 94.26 | -16.07% |
| Sierra Wireless (SWIR) | 27.50 | 47.39 | +72.33% |
| Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance (ULTA) | 121.44 | 127.84 | +5.27% |
| Plan 5 Quarterly: Nov-Dec 2014 | +15.42% | ||
| S&P 500 | 2018.21 | 2058.90 | +2.02% |
Progress is looking good again this month for Plan 5 Monthly, with Sierra Wireless again leading the charge. Sierra’s amazing 72% gain over the past two months have more than made up for some moderate losses, such as Gilead Science’s 16% downturn in December. Altogether Plan 5 Monthly has gained 15.42% so far during the current period, which will be over when the markets close on January 30th.
Finally, here’s a look at Plan 5’s overall progress from the beginning:
That’s all for this month. I’ll be back at the end of January with the next update.
Thrive!
Mike Ferrier