Welcome to the October update of Plan 5 Picks. Yet another downward slide for the market this month, which was exaggerated by Plan 5. Let’s take it as further practice in emotional detachment. We’ll start with the Plan 5 Monthly results for June:
Plan 5 Monthly: September 2015 Results
| Sept 1 Open | Sept 30 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com (AMZN) | 499.14 | 511.89 | +2.55% |
| Netflix (NFLX) | 109.35 | 103.24 | -5.59% |
| Post Holdings (POST) | 64.60 | 59.10 | -8.51% |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) | 227.69 | 178.66 | -21.53% |
| Xoom (XOOM) | 24.83 | 24.88 | +0.2% |
| Plan 5 Monthly: September 2015 | -6.58% | ||
| S&P 500 | 1972.18 | 1920.03 | -2.64% |
Two of this month’s picks showed a modest gain, but that was more than balanced out by the others, most especially Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ 21.53% drop. The overall loss of 6.58% was further than the S&P 500’s 2.64% loss.
There are three substitutions this month, with only Amazon.com and Netflix remaining from last time. The newcomers are Activision Blizzard, Under Armor, and Xoom. Here are the October Plan 5 Monthly picks:
Plan 5 Monthly: October 2015 Picks
| Company | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Activision Blizzard | ATVI |
| Amazon.com | AMZN |
| Netflix | NFLX |
| Under Armour | UA |
| Xoom | XOOM |
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: August-September 2015 Progress Report
| Aug 3 Open | Sept 30 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com (AMZN) | 537.45 | 511.89 | -4.76% |
| Netflix (NFLX) | 114.60 | 103.24 | -9.91% |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) | 258.00 | 178.66 | -30.75% |
| WisdomTree Investments (WETF) | 25.00 | 16.13 | -35.48% |
| Xoom (XOOM) | 24.82 | 24.88 | +0.24% |
| Plan 5 Quarterly: Aug-Sept 2015 | -16.13% | ||
| S&P 500 | 2104.49 | 1920.03 | -8.77% |
Plan 5 Quarterly is suffering from two very poor performers so far in this period: Valeant Pharmaceuticals has lost 30.75%, while WisdomTree Investments lost a full 35.48%. None of the other picks have fared very well either, resulting in an overall loss of 16.13% so far, versus the S&P 500’s 8.77% loss. We’re not done yet though; there’s 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 October with the next update.
Thrive!
Mike Ferrier