Welcome to the July update of Plan 5 Picks. After rising fairly steadily over the course of June, the market faltered in the past few days because of the situation in Greece. While the market is overall down a bit for the month, Plan 5 has seen a small gain. We’ll start with the Plan 5 Monthly results for June:
Plan 5 Monthly: June 2015 Results
| Jun 1 Open | Jun 30 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) | 35.79 | 41.56 | +16.12% |
| Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance (ULTA) | 153.05 | 154.45 | +0.91% |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) | 239.65 | 222.15 | -7.3% |
| WisdomTree Investments (WETF) | 21.47 | 21.97 | +2.33% |
| XPO Logistics (XPO) | 49.89 | 45.22 | -9.36% |
| Plan 5 Monthly: June 2015 | +0.54% | ||
| S&P 500 | 2108.64 | 2063.11 | -2.16% |
Three of this month’s five picks saw a gain, just enough to offset losses by Valeant Pharmaceuticals and XPO Logistics. The small overall gain of 0.54% was still enough to beat the S&P 500’s 2.16% loss.
There are two substitutions this month, with II-VI (pronounced “two six”, this company produces lasers and other electronic components) and Post Holdings (which produces foods) replacing Ulta Salon and XPO Logistics. Here are the July Plan 5 Monthly picks:
Plan 5 Monthly: July 2015 Picks
| Company | Symbol |
|---|---|
| II-VI | IIVI |
| Interactive Brokers Group | IBKR |
| Post Holdings | POST |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International | VRX |
| WisdomTree Investments | WETF |
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 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: June 2015 Progress Report
| May 1 Open | Jun 30 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) | 34.04 | 41.56 | +22.09% |
| Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance (ULTA) | 150.41 | 154.45 | +2.69% |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) | 217.33 | 222.15 | +2.22% |
| WisdomTree Investments (WETF) | 18.83 | 21.97 | +16.68% |
| XPO Logistics (XPO) | 48.74 | 45.22 | -7.22% |
| Plan 5 Quarterly: May-June 2015 | +7.29% | ||
| S&P 500 | 2087.38 | 2063.11 | -1.16% |
Plan 5 Quarterly fared as well as Plan 5 Monthly over the past month (all five of their picks matched), slightly improving its overall results for the current period to 7.29%. This is well ahead of the S&P 500’s -1.16% over the same two months. We have one more month to go until the current Plan 5 Quarterly period will be over, and it will be time for a new set of picks.
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 July with the next update.
Thrive!
Mike Ferrier