2009 Stock Picks Competition Results

What a year 2009 turned out to be with regards to market returns – in fact 2009 resulted in the highest return since 1983 with a 30.7% gain.   Congrats to those who had the courage to buy equities during the down turn.

The markets started 2009 on a bad note and continued its down ward spiral until March after which we got a surprisingly strong bull rally.  My picks below faired well, but not as well as the market.

Here are the results:

My 4 Stock Picks of 2009

1. Hanfeng Evergreen (HF.TO) – This company creates high yielding fertilizer for the Chinese market.  I’ve been watching this stock for a couple years now and it seems to be oversold relative to their (profitable) earnings.  This stock has the possibility of making a comeback providing that the Chinese market makes a partial recovery.  If the markets don’t cooperate in 2009, then this stock could go down even further.  Price as of closing Dec 31, 2008: $5.63.  Price as of closing Dec 31, 2009: $7.39  (+31.3%)
   
2. Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) – Now that I have my exciting stock out of the way, time to go to the boring large cap stuff.  Johnson and Johnson manufactures ’staple’ items like Tylenol, Johnson baby products, band aid, Listerine and other popular skin care products.  Even in a recession, I believe that people will continue to buy these products.  JNJ also offers a sustainable dividend at an attractive yield.  Price as of closing Dec 31, 2008: $59.83. Price as of closing Dec 31, 2009: $66.34 (inc dividends)  (+10.9%)
   
3. Husky Energy (HSE.TO) – This is my pick for some energy sector exposure.  Even though the potential global recession throughout 2009 could keep oil prices depressed, I like Husky Energy’s oil properties and their profitability.  Their dividend doesn’t hurt either. Price as of closing Dec 31, 2008: $30.87. Price as of closing Dec 31, 2009: $31.28 (inc dividends)  (+1.3%)
4. Power Financial (PWF.TO) – This holding company has large positions in IGM Financial, Great West Life, Canada Life and London Life.  It offers a generous sustainable dividend and I believe that this stock has been irrationally oversold.  Hopefully PWF will recover in 2009. Price as of closing Dec 31, 2008: $23.90. Price as of closing Dec 31, 2009: $32.48 (inc dividends)  (+35.9%)

Overall, counting dividends, all of my picks turned out positive for the year with an average return of 19.85%.  Even though 20% sounds great, I would have been better off purchasing the Canadian index ETF XIU, which ended the year with about a 30% gain.

How did your stock picks do?

Here are the results from the other bloggers:

1. IntelligentSpeculator, 81.56%
2. WildInvestor, 70.15%
3. Wheredoesallmymoneygo, 56.14%
4. TheFinancialBlogger, 44.62%
5. FourPillars, 35.26%
6. DividendGrowthInvestor, 26.48%
7. Million Dollar Journey, 19.85%
8. MyTradersJournal, 0.18%
9. ZachStocks, -8.8%

My 2010 picks are coming up!