Our closed recommendations (i.e., stock recommendations with specific buy and sell recommendations), we recorded average gains of 24.1%, with an average holding period of 27 days.

Some gains in particular were truly stellar…

· 50.1% on Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:SWHC)
· 87.1% on National City (NYSE:NCC) Jan 2.5 calls
· 79.6% on Boeing (NYSE:BA) Feb 55 puts
· 190% on Boeing Aug 90 calls
· 55.5% on Rex Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:REXX)

But now it’s time to throw in the towel on some duds…

The shipping sector sank with the global recession. If you are still holding any, it’s time to unload shares of:

· China COSCO Holding (PINK:CICOF)
· Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX)

Energy explorers’ and drillers’ share prices have probed new depths of late with oil prices hovering around $50. Ditch any shares you might have of:

· Grand Tierra Energy Inc. (AMEX:GTE)
· Parker Drilling Company (NYSE:PKD)
· Royal Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL)
· Pyramid Oil Company (AMEX:PDO)

With the delay in the production of the Nano continuing to impact stock price, let’s put the breaks on this Indian carmaker. Let go of any shares you might have of:

· Tata Motors (NYSE:TTM)

As gold fluctuates, this Canadian/Chinese gold miner is no longer a good investment. Lose any shares you might have of:

· Jinshan Gold Mines Inc. (TSE:JIN)

We suggested that readers with the stomach for risk might want to pick up shares of this troubled banker in case of a buyout. No such luck. Dump any shares you might have of:

· IndyMac Bancorp, Inc. (OTC:IDMCQ)

A great seasonal brew and a recession didn’t help this beer maker. If it’s in your portfolio, sell:

· Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOK)

Not that any of those stocks represent bad companies. Far from it! If this were a normal market environment, we’d have no problems holding on to most of them. But reason and rationality have departed from the markets… and it might take months or even years for the prices of these stocks to even get close to our original buying range.

Source: Drop these losers from your portfolio

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) yesterday (Thursday) offered $4.5 billion in cash for biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL), the Associated Press reported. ImClone’s board has yet to comment on the proposal, which offers its stockholders $60 per share, a 30% premium to its Wednesday closing price of $46.44. Bristol-Myers already owns about 17% of ImClone.

• Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) said yesterday (Thursday) that second-quarter profit fell, as traditional film-based revenue slumped 14% to $847 million. Sales climbed 1% from $2.47 billion to $2.49 billion, and revenue from digital businesses rose 10% to $1.64 billion.

• Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX) said yesterday (Thursday) that second-quarter profit more than doubled due to higher charter rates and an increase in operating days, the Associated Press reported. The company said its earnings for the quarter ended June 30 increased to $56.7 million, or 76 cents per share, up from $26 million, or 41 cents per share, for the same period last year.

• Light, sweet crude oil for September delivery fell $2.69 to settle at $124.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday (Thursday). Prices are up 59 percent from a year ago, but have dropped 11% this month on concerns demand in the U.S. is pulling back.

• Google Inc. (GOOG) has plans to start-up a venture capital fund to provide seed money to promising start-ups, MarketWatch reported. Google follows in the footsteps of other tech giants with similar funds such as Intel Corp. (INTC), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).

• CBS Corp. (CBS) shares slumped 3% after the television network lowered its outlook based on slackening advertising sales, Forbes reported. Advertising sales fell 6% due to fewer primetime viewers and less spending by local stations. CBS reduced its guidance to the nearly flat from a prior estimate of growth of 3% – 5%.

• MasterCard Inc. (MA) fell almost 10% yesterday (Thursday), as investors worried about the effect waning consumer spending would have on debit and credit card use, Bloomberg News reported. MasterCard shares dropped $26.58 to close at $244.15.

• Standard & Poor’s lowered the rating on the three major U.S. automakers yesterday (Thursday), as domestic car companies continue to lose ground to foreign competition. General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Chrysler LLC were all lowered to a rating of “B-minus,” six levels below investment grade, Reuters reported.

Source: Global Investing Roundups Friday, August 1st, 2008

Energy covers everything from the oil majors to small alt-energy start-ups. This is a tricky sector. If you don’t pick and choose carefully, you could easily lose your shirt.

For example, I’m not touching the oil majors right now. Even as they grow their profits, their oil production and reserves are shrinking. Their offshore production and pipelines are under attack by militants in Nigeria. Their joint ventures are under government attack by Russia and other countries looking for a bigger piece of the pie. It’s become an unfriendly world for Big Oil. And they don’t seem to know what to do about it.

Energy has a few places where investors can do very well. But it certainly isn’t a haven. Then what is?  

• Retail? It’s the third-worst performing sector in the S&P 500 during the past three months. Low-cost retail should do relatively well. But it’s no haven. If it were, you wouldn’t have to try to figure out why Wal-Mart (WMT) is doing well and some mega-stores like Costco (COST) aren’t.

• Precious Commodities? A surprising laggard that has lost investors some money over the past three months. I talk about gold below so let’s turn our attention to non-precious commodities for a moment.

A combination of bad weather, accidents, and project delays are pushing prices to record highs. Will this last? Could they go even get higher? Not if the economic slowdowns in the U.S. and Europe leak into Asia.

• Oil services? I’ve recommended overseas integrated oil companies, publically listed state-controlled oil enterprises, rig contractors, oil tankers, and oil pipelines. Half these companies were up last week – and my oil tanker – Tsakos Energy Navigation (TNP) – did the best. It rose 3 percent last week.

But since the beginning of the year, it’s no contest. The rig companies are my best oil-related companies by far.

Source: Plunges and Crashes and Bankruptcies, Oh My