Equity Select Portfolio, 21.4% YTD

The five equities I track for fun as part of my "Equity Select Portfolio" have delivered a total return YTD of 21.4%, scorching the S&P 500 by 11.75%. I do not actually have any of my own money invested in this portfolio. It is used solely as a research tool.


I will continue to track them to see how they do in the second half with an occasional update. The holdings are:

1. Goldman Sachs (GS)- My Top Pick at the beginning of the year. It has performed admirably but has been bogged down recently by concerns about subprime contagion. This stock is a long term hold.
   
2. Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) - My Second Pick at the beginning of the year. This is a play on the continued boom in boutique asset management firms. This stock is a long term hold.
3. Google (GOOG) - My third pick at the beginning of the year. While I had some concerns about valuation I think Google is well positioned to prosper for the foreseeable future as online ad revenue continues to skyrocket. I have also been impressed at their ability to attract talented employees. This is another long term hold.
   
4. Apple (AAPL) - My fourth pick at the beginning of the year. In spite of its phenomenal outperformance I have been nervous about this stock all year. I even encouraged a bit of profit taking leading up to the iPhone release. Apple is an innovation machine and we are all along for the ride. While I sleep well with my top three selections, Apple does make me nervous.
   
5. BHP Billiton (BHP) - BHP was purchased on July 11th with the proceeds from the sale of Sears Holdings, which was removed from the list. BHP was promoted off of my Best Ideas list after a strong outperformance in the first half. I am very nervous about this stock going forward given its sensitivity to commodity prices but it has the best story from my Best Ideas List. The other stock that almost took its place was Fortress Investment Group (FIG). However, I am comfortably exposed to private equity and hedge funds through GS and AMG and don't see the need to overexpose myself. BHP is also the only foreign stock I hold. The other options on my Best Ideas list included BIDU, RIG and CVS.
   

CHANGES: Sears Holdings was the latest casualty from the list. While I do believe that Eddie Lampert will find a way to right this ship the company faces intense headwinds from a weakened consumer and stiff competition. I'd rather put money into ESL than dump it into SHLD.