When I originally started my portfolio in Stock Trak I set very realistic goals for myself considering the state of the economy since September 11. I was looking for a steady, although not big return on my investments. I am happy to say that I have met those goals and will discuss the strategy that helped me achieve those goals throughout this paper. .
Since the economy was on shaky ground after September 11 .
I decided to buy stock in safe, well-established companies that I new would give me a steady profit. Companies like Microsoft, IBM, AOL, Starbucks, AT&T, Wal-Mart, Walgreen, and J.P. Morgan Chase. That strategy worked pretty well for me, I made a profit with Microsoft, IBM, AOL, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, And JP Morgan Chase. I made the biggest profit with IBM - $35,000 and Microsoft - $11,370, while I made only minimal profit with the others. However, I failed to make a profit with AT&T and Walgreen, losing a little over $1,000 with each. I was surprised with how well IBM did, I was not expecting to get that much back from IBM or Microsoft. One thing I would probably do differently would be to invest more in tech stocks, it seems as if they are doing well at the moment, instead of investing in companies like Walgreen, Wal-Mart, and Starbucks which gave me little or no return.
I decided to take a chance and buy some stock in companies that I was not familiar with and achieved slight success doing so. I used various articles available on Stock Trak such as, Stocks to Watch, The Market Story, and Market Update, as my guide to buying stocks in unfamiliar companies, I received my biggest profit with Costco Wholesale at $9,730 and Fleetboston Fin at $6,430. I gained only a minimal profit in the others, while I had slight losses Dynergy Inc., Regis Corporation, and Akzoy Nobel. In hindsight I probably could have done a little more research and probably would have seen better results if I would have, but all things considered I was pleased with the profits I made from these companies.
