It's not rocket science, only a balance between greed and fear, but ultimate success goes to those who can afford to be patient.
Portfolio update week ending March 18, 2000
By
Emckoba , Snr. Investment AnalystMarch 18, 2000
The cumulative gains for the 2000 RRSP portfolio fell from
106% (March 11, 2000) to 85% (March 18, 2000) with losses in Lumenon (LUMM), Forbes Medi-Tech (FMI/TSE) and SCS Solars (SCS/CDNX) averaging 20% and single-digit losses for the other stocks in the basket.
The portfolio collapsed from
18% (Mar 11, 2000) to 14% (Mar 18, 2000) for the week.MP3.com gained $US6.06 (26%) in the week, continuing its recent momentum to make up for lost grounds but the two incubators in the portfolio (CMGI-B2C giant and ICGE-B2B giant) lost an average of 20% for the week, in the general downturn which hit net stocks in the week.
The June 1, 1999 portfolio fell from
240% (March 11, 2000) to 203% (March 18, 2000) - a 37 points loss.Ecompark (Canadian internet incubator) accounted for 71% of the 37 points loss in this portfolio because this company currently accounts for 28% of the total value of this portfolio. The internet incubation space in Canada is increasingly getting crowded with new entrants who have assets that are highly covetous. Looking increasingly attractive in this space are Pinetree (PNP/CDNX), Equess Communications (EQS/CDNX) and Exclamation Inc (IX/CDNX)
The January 1, 1999 portfolio fell from
349% (March 11, 2000) to 288% (March 18, 2000), with Certicom (from $235 to $185 per share; accounting for 69% of the losses). As mentioned last week, if the yardstick is the power of encryption, then Jaws Technology wins the race hands down but we all know what happened in the Betamax/VHS video format war.With the exception of Zix It (ZIXI/NASDAQ), all the stocks in the portfolio fell by an average of 15% for the week resulting in a 61-point loss in the cumulative gains of this portfolio.
Dell Computers touched a new 52-week high but it's gains were not enough to cover the 7% loss by Nokia in the week. Nokia currently has a 43% weighting in this portfolio and hence when Nokia sneezes, this portfolio always gets into trouble (cum gains from
699% to 686%)While the going has been tough for Nokia this year, we believe that it still has the competitive edge in terms of the speed with which it can bring new products to market.
Fiber optics maker Digital Lightwave retreated by $US34 and Sierra Wireless gave up $CAD29 for the week and this largely explains the 160-point (
906% to 746%) loss in the FLINT portfolio in the past week. The weighting of these two giants had been reduced from 51% to 48% by March 18, 2000 as a result of the heavy selling that hit these companies in the week.One thing we have come to believe is, that, astute investors buy into stocks during dips like this, instead of when the going is good.