Can you help me with my investment portfolio?

Question

It's already June and I'm wondering if I should trust the saying Sell in May and Stay Away. (It basically means sell most of your holdings in May because markets have proven to be bad for the next months) I need help from you guys to tell me what I should sell and what i should keep. I currently have shares of NutriSystem (NTRI, that was a bad choice, Im just keeping it just to see if i can lose a little less), DryShips (DRYS), Gamestop (GME), Opnext (OPXT), Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), and XTO Energy (XTO). I also have shares of a mutual fund called Royce Value Plus Service (RYVPX). the mutual fund was originally gonna be a long term holding, but it seems that I've lost 16% on it. It has a 5 Star Morningstar Rating, but my dad tells me to check a website called Fund Alarm and if the statistics aren't all green then sell. So please tell me your input about my holdings. Should I BUY, HOLD, or SELL.

FYI: This is really money.

Answer 1

I think raz is pretty much right.  Stick to mutual funds.  Maybe you could check performance at Yahoo-click on the top performers in different categories, or go to Morningstar and check a fund's performance by clicking the 'Total Returns' tab.  See how the fund did in our last bear market, 2000-2002.  A fund that grows steadily without a lot of highs and lows is best.  Oh, and avoid load funds.  There are good no-load funds out there

Answer 2

Not to be wise, but maybe you should look at mutual funds for your major investments and keep extra money for the individual stocks, just a thought.

Answer 3

it's not worth it.  if you had done this for the last few years, you would have missed out in the largest rallies of the year.

the only place you ever hear this anymore is CNBC, and that's only because they love to rhyme.  it's a terrible idea for a long-term investor.

Answer 4

Here's my suggestion.  Sell everything you have and start again.  To start with, the month has nothing to do with.  The time to buy a stock is when the price is right, whenever that occurs.  

     Your reason for keeping Nutrisystems is COMPLETELY wrong.  A lousy stock is a lousy stock.  Praying that it goes up hardly ever works.  Where you bought the stock does not matter.  What matters is where its going.  

     Gamestop and Take-Two are too much alike.  You need to diversify a little more.  I would look at companies in different fields that won't be affected as much by the ridiculous gas prices.  I'm looking at Microsoft, Pepsi and United Health right now.  

     You should be able to explain in plain english what a company does and why it should do well in the near future.  If you can't, stay away.  

     Dryships does look interesting.  I'm going to look into that company a little more.

Answer 5

Buy on strength, sell on weakness. That is what I base my buy and sell decisions on, and not just any seasonal factor. Let the market tell you when to open or close a position.

http://homeruntrades.blogspot.com