Welcome to the November update of Plan 5 Picks. The market recouped a lot of its recent losses over the past month, and Plan 5 has had both ups and downs. Here’s how Plan 5 Monthly performed in October:
Plan 5 Monthly: October 2015 Results
| Oct 1 Open | Oct 30 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activision Blizzard (ATVI) | 31.39 | 34.76 | +10.74% |
| Amazon.com (AMZN) | 511.00 | 625.90 | +22.49% |
| Netflix (NFLX) | 102.91 | 108.38 | +5.32% |
| Under Armour (UA) | 97.06 | 95.11 | -2.01% |
| Xoom (XOOM) | 24.87 | 24.94 | +0.28% |
| Plan 5 Monthly: October 2015 | +7.36% | ||
| S&P 500 | 1919.65 | 2079.36 | +8.32% |
Very good results this month, with the highest growth coming from Amazon (22.49%), and the greatest loss being only Under Armor’s -2.01%. The overall results of 7.36% are great, though not quite enough to match the S&P 500’s outstanding growth of 8.32% during the same period.
Only one new pick this month, with Under Armor being replaced by graphics chip manufacturer NVidia. Here’s the latest set of picks:
Plan 5 Monthly: November 2015 Picks
| Company | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Activision Blizzard | ATVI |
| Amazon.com | AMZN |
| NVidia | NVDA |
| Netflix | NFLX |
| Xoom | XOOM |
If you’re following along with Plan 5 Monthly, it’s time to rebalance your portfolio. An easy way to do that is to use the online Balance Calculator. If you’re new to Plan 5 or would like to read more about rebalancing a Plan 5 portfolio, check out this comprehensive guide to the process.
If you’re following Plan 5 Quarterly, it will also be time to rebalance your portfolio this month. But first let’s take a look at how Plan 5 Quarterly has performed with its last set of picks over the past three months.
Plan 5 Quarterly: August 2015 – October 2015 Results
| Aug 3 Open | Oct 30 Close | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com (AMZN) | 537.45 | 625.90 | +16.46% |
| Netflix (NFLX) | 114.60 | 108.38 | -5.43% |
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) | 258.00 | 93.81 | -63.64% |
| WisdomTree Investments (WETF) | 25.00 | 19.23 | -23.08% |
| Xoom (XOOM) | 24.82 | 24.94 | +0.48% |
| Plan 5 Quarterly: August – October 2015 | -15.04% | ||
| S&P 500 | 2104.49 | 2079.36 | -1.19% |
While Plan 5 Quarterly did show a small gain over the past month, it’s been a punishing quarter overall. It’s lost 15.04%, a result that’s dominated by Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ collapse of -63.64%, as well as poor performance by WisdomTree Investments. These results are significantly worse than the S&P 500’s -1.19% loss over the same period.
Here’s the new set of Plan 5 Quarterly picks:
Plan 5 Quarterly: November 2015 Picks
| Company | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Activision Blizzard | ATVI |
| Amazon.com | AMZN |
| Netflix | NFLX |
| Pegasystems | PEGA |
| Xoom | XOOM |
Only two replacements for the new quarter, with the poorest performers Valeant Pharmaceuticals and WisdomTree Investments being substituted by Activision Blizzard and Pegasystems, both software companies.
Again, followers of Plan 5 Quarterly will want to rebalance your portfolios. The online Balance Calculator and the step-by-step guide are useful resources for helping with this.
Finally, here’s a look at overall Plan 5 performance so far, since its inception:
That’s all for this month. I’ll be back at the end of November with the latest picks.
Thrive!
Mike Ferrier