Profit Taking!

Well then, it's been a heck of a month. I haven't been as good with the blog as I'd like but I have been busy :) So lets dig into what's been going on in G. world from a sales point of view.

Sales

Garmin (GRMN)

I went with a new strategy I'm developing for runaway stocks. For those that don't remember, I purchased Garmin in two batches. One with a price point of $46.84 and another at $51.04. Garmin had an amazing run up to $105.85. Even I, an avid Garmin fan, felt that price was too high. I decided to implement my 12% rule which stated I would sell half of my holdings in Garmin if it dropped 12% from it's peak. This quickly occurred in the following days and I ended up selling half of my portfolio at $92.32, taking a 97% profit. Garmin of course is back up around $101 right now but I'm happy with the sale. Garmin with my two purchases, became my largest portfolio holding. Having it double, made it astronomical in relation to the rest of my holdings.
I distinctly remember the dot com bust and have always followed a strategy where I do no selling as my stocks appreciate, but which make sure some profit taking is done if a decline starts to come. Garmin is still an amazing company and I plan to leave my last half in there for the long haul (i.e. it's going to get a lot more swing room before I even think of selling).


Armor Holdings (AH)

I purchased armor holdings back in September of 2006 as a play on the current administrations war strategy. Overall it seemed to be going well with a good rise in stock price. Armor holdings was purchased by BAE systems. It was purchased for $88 a share, which compared to my $52.72 purchase price gave me a nice clean 64% return on my money. I had mixed feeling on this takeover, the return on investment was nice but I had high hopes for this company and was kind of ticked off the sale came at such a time that I'll be paying short term gains on the sale. Oh well, can't complain about a 64% return over the course of 11 months.


Hartford Financial Services (HIG)

I've never actually blogged about HIG but I had a small stake in it from an 8/17/2004 purchase. I purchased it at $60.62, sold it at $86.65. It had a great run up to $106 at one point but ended up coming back down. I didn't have a whole lot of feelings either way with this company so decided to sell into a rally one day. With dividends, I got a 52% return on my money with this one.


Well there you have it, my sales over the last month. The market has been very volatile but overall I've been really happy with my portfolio. The next post of course will be what I did with all of my new found money!

Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)

As mentioned in my previous post, the recent market movements have gotten under my skin a bit. I decided it was time to diversify a bit and put my money in what I consider a safer company.

G, what does this company do?

From google finance:

Johnson & Johnson is engaged in the research and development, manufacture and sale of a range of products in the healthcare field. Johnson & Johnson has more than 250 operating companies. The Company operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices and Diagnostics. Sales of the Company's two largest products, RISPERDAL/RISPERDAL CONSTA and PROCRIT/EPREX, accounted for approximately 8% and 6% of Johnson & Johnson's total revenues, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2006. In May 2006, ETHICON, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, acquired Vascular Control Systems, Inc., which is focused on developing medical devices to treat fibroids and to control bleeding in obstetric and gynecologic applications. On December 20, 2006, the Company completed the acquisition of the Consumer Healthcare business of Pfizer Inc. In February 2007, the Company completed the acquisition of Conor Medsystems, Inc.

G, where did you find this company?

I've owned the company for quite a few years but only from my poor college days. My dad recommended back in those days and it's had a good solid rate of return.

G, why do you like this company?

It makes me feel safe! It's averaged 12% return over the past 10 years, it has an excellent return on investment, it makes a ton of money, it's very well diversified in both product and geography, it's sitting near a 52 week low, and no matter what, people will always need what it produces!

G, give me the details.

The growth numbers are not as exciting as GRMN or QSII but they make billions of dollars more!

G, what did it cost you?

I bought at $61.82 on 7/24/2007.