Stock Follow-Up from May 2009

I was re-reading some of my old investment articles (it's still something I believe in very much), and I decided share what the results were from some of stocks I had picked.

First, let me say that I am not at all an expert at this stuff. I dabble for personal pleasure and my own financial gain, but I make ZERO promises anything I say about stocks will pan out. These are just musings.

With that said, let's turn to my post from May 1, 2009 titled "Are the Stock Markets Downward Ho?". This was May 2009 - of course they were!

At the end of my rambling, I highlighted a number of stocks I owned or was interested in. These included: AUY, VGZ, TGB, MPEL, GSI, EPD, AOB and GLBL. I also mentioned ITLN and ACTU, but they are no longer traded.

My worst performer was easily AOB - American Oriental Bioengineering. It's a Chinese pharmaceutical company, and I (thankfully) sold the stock a while ago. Since May 13, 2009, the stock is down 52%. Ouch. I managed to sell long before that, but my predictions about a populous increasingly turning to medicines has so far been wrong.

Apart from AOB though, I've managed to do quite well. Taseko Mines (TGB) has managed to reward me beyond my dreams, and is up nearly 570% since my post! We had a bit of a snafu in October when the Canadian mining company lost on an environmental concession, but things are back on track now.

Similarly, my bet on gold has panned out nicely. I thought Vista Gold Corp (VGZ) and Yamana Gold (AUY) looked attractive, and they've grown 108% and 32% respectively.

I've been generally disappointed in General Steel - a Chinese steel company - but it's still up 22% overall. However it is down 62% from it's high over a year ago, and I feel like the market may be missing something here. Or maybe *I* am.

In 2009, I felt strongly that the oil and gas industry still had some real strength to it. I picked a couple two different players in the field: Enterprise Product Partners (EPD) and Global Industries (GLBL).

Global has exceeded my expectations, growing 228% since May '09. However my real love has been Enterprise Partners. It hasn't grown quite like Global, and the stock is up "only" 135% - but it's the dividend I love. Since May of 2009, EPD has paid out $4.51 per share in dividends to stock holders. The best part? The amount has steadily increased each quarter - from 54 cents/share to now 59 cents. It's really hard to be upset with that.

Lastly we come to Melco Crown Entertainment (EPD). This one is my baby. It's the second stock I ever purchased and it's one that I believe in for many decades to come. Melco operates a couple of high-end casinos on the Cotai strip in Macau. It's one of only six companies who has a license to do so, and their City of Dreams facility is arguably the most grand.

Despite some ups and downs, Melco is up 199% since May '09, and I will probably hold onto this one for a long time. Of course, I plan on holding on to most of the stocks I own, unless I'm ready to liquefy or the fundamentals of the company change.

So I suppose the moral is to pick companies you believe in, and hold on for the ride.

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