On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 1.4% while Toronto was up 0.2%. On Canada Day the S&P 500 rose another 0.2%.
With the year half over, the S&P 500 is up 2.9% and Toronto is up 8.1%. (Neither of these figures include dividends)
Our Stock Picks are up an average of 3.8% (not including dividends). The highly Speculative (lower) Buy rated Bombardier was the top gainer at 55%. Other gainers include the Bombardier pref share up 26%, RioCan units up 24%, A RioCan rate reset pref share that was inexplicably or at lease very surprisingly redeemed at $25 for a 37% gain, Walmart up 19%, and Canadian Tire up 19%.
Our four Strong Buy rated stocks (from January 1) are up an average of 4.5%. And that is not including dividends and each of the four have good to excellent yields.
However some higher Buy and Buy rated stocks have declined including Toll Brothers down 19%, Bank of America down 22% and Wells Fargo down 13%. Each of these stocks have a good potential to rebound significantly before long and in any case are likely to do well over the longer term.
My own portfolio is down 3.4%. About 2% of the decline would be due to the fact that the Canadian dollar rose 7.2% since January 1 and I have a significant exposure to America stocks. I also have large exposures to Wells Fargo, Toll Brothers and Bank of America. The declines there offset my gains on the four strong buys which I also have large exposures to (except my investment in TransForce is small). My long term returns remain well ahead of the market.
Note that yesterday I sent out an edition of the free newsletter by email.
P.S. The breakdown of my personal (total household) portfolio is updated.