A full 23 months ago, I started identifying 10 companies that I would be putting $40,000 of my own retirement money behind. This was, has been, and will continue to be my way of helping the world to invest better.
Since then, that sum of money has grown to $50,960 — a 27.4% increase and $1,320 better than if I had just invested the money in the S&P 500.
Every month, I look over these stocks to see which three are tempting. I call these my “Buy Now” stocks because I think they’re pretty good deals. Read the chart below to see how the whole portfolio has performed, check out my best buys, and at the end I’ll offer up access to a special premium report on one of the 10 stocks that’s been floundering lately.
| Company | Publication Date | Change | Vs. S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6/26/11 | 64.4% | 38 | |
| Pricesmart | 6/28/11 | 56.7% | 31 |
| Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) * | 9/15/12 | -20.8% | (44) |
| Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) | 7/25/11 | 22.4% | 1 |
| National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) | 7/28/11 | -11.8% | (37) |
| Coca-Cola | 6/21/11 | 28.1% | 3 |
| Whole Foods | 7/5/11 | 40.3% | 19 |
| Amazon | 7/12/11 | 26.1% | 3 |
| Apple | 6/30/11 | 33.8% | 11 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 8/1/11 | 34.7% | 8 |
| Total | 27.4% | 3.3 |
Source: Fool.com. All numbers accurate as of market close March 31, 2013. *Returns are for position in ATVI held from July 15, 2011, to Sept. 9, 2012, and transferred over to BIDU on Sept. 15, 2012.
Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)
First on my list of best buys is a company that’s been a mainstay on here: Chinese search engine giant Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU). To be honest, anyone following this portfolio is probably tired of hearing my reasoning for thinking Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) is such a great stock at this price, so — at the risk of exposing myself to big-time confirmation bias — here’s a sampling of other Fool analysts who have been singling the stock out.
Just this week, Fool Daniel Sparks called Baidu out as one of two stocks to buy this month, saying: “Baidu’s substantial investments in research and infrastructure promise to create more opportunities.”
Fool Dan Caplinger called Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) his one stock to buy in April, reminding investors: “Baidu has expansion plans beyond China, and its prospects for picking up market share in other lucrative emerging Internet markets look bright.”
And technology guru Andrew Tonner called Baidu the best value in all of technology, saying: “Every so often the stock market does investors a real favor and that’s the case with Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU).”
I don’t point these three out to say, “See? I’m right!” Rather, as I myself am running out of new reasons to say the stock’s a buy, I’m offering some other opinions, all voiced within the past two weeks.
National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE:NOV)
In a perfect world, we’d be able to use the energy the sun gives us to meet our wants — that’s the way it worked for millions of years. But that’s not the world we live in right now, and for the developing and industrialized nations, getting energy from the earth is one way to meet our heightened demands.
