Arch Coal Inc (ACI), Exelon Corporation (EXC), Dell Inc. (DELL): One Person’s Trash Is Another Person’s Treasure Portfolio

Audio-accessories specialist Skullcandy Inc (NASDAQ:SKUL) had a notably good week, as well, up 9.2%, following an upgrade from Raymond James to market perform from underperform. The rating change by Raymond James was done on the basis of a low valuation for Skullcandy Inc (NASDAQ:SKUL), confidence in the new management team, and forecasts that show Skullcandy Inc (NASDAQ:SKUL) returning to profitability in 2014. I’ve neither added to my position, nor sold any of my own personal shares, but am eager to see how this turnaround progresses into next year.

Finally, office-supply superstore Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) tacked on close to 7% this week following the announcement that it was going to keep its third-quarter dividend steady at $0.12 per share. The dividend will be payable on Oct. 17 to shareholders on record as of Sept. 27. On a bigger scale, remember that we’re in the bread-and-butter quarter for Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) (back-to-school), so it has a chance to really shine in its third-quarter earnings report with OfficeMax and Office Depot preparing to shutter stores for their merger.

We can do better
This doesn’t happen all that often, but, in spite of the S&P 500 advancing in each of the past five days (it’s actually up now for seven straight, but who’s counting), this contrarian and deep-value portfolio handily outperformed this week. Huge gains this week by the likes of Orange, QLogic, and portfolio bell-cow Arkansas Best helped push this portfolio higher by close to 6%… in a week! Although we still have plenty of time to go, the underperformance gap has closed to its lowest level in months, just 2.6%. I’m confident this portfolio of contrarian and beaten-down stocks has what it takes to outperform the S&P 500 over the long run.

Check back next week for the latest update on this portfolio and its 10 components.

The article One Person’s Trash Is Another Person’s Treasure Portfolio originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams owns shares of QLogic, Dell, Skullcandy and Orange, but has no material interest in any other companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool owns shares of, and recommends Orange. It also owns shares of Skullcandy and Staples, and recommends Exelon and Moody’s.

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