First off, sincere thanks to everyone who submitted a pick via the blog, our twitter page, or email. It was a great response as we received hundreds of replies and have been busy sorting through them. The question was simple: If you had to own only 1 stock for the next 5 years, what would it be? Since many of the hedge funds we track on the blog are centered around stockpicking, we thought it would be fun to see what readers had in mind for long-term picks of their own.
As you can imagine, we received the full gamut in terms of answers but definitely noticed a few themes in the responses. Firstly, when it comes to 'buy and hold,' blue chip stocks are the name of the game. By far and away, the largest amount of entries centered around well established blue chip companies that have a proven brand and often pay a dividend. Secondly, two sectors received the most votes and those were: technology and energy. Readers definitely see those two arenas as areas of long-term growth and sustainability it seems.
Without further ado, onto the results. We'd first like to toss out a few honorable mentions that received a lot of votes, but not quite enough to land in the top 10. Some of those stocks include: Cree (CREE), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Leucadia (LUK), Range Resources (RRC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Monsanto (MON), Transocean (RIG), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), FPL Group (FPL), and Verisk (VRSK).
And here are the TOP 10 PICKS, with the #1 pick being the stock that received the most entries:
10. A123 Systems (AONE)
9. BHP Billiton (BHP)
8. JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
7. Google (GOOG)
6. BYD Company (Hong Kong: 1211)
5. General Electric (GE)
4. Philip Morris International (PM)
3. Walmart (WMT)
2. Goldman Sachs (GS)
1. Apple (AAPL)
So there you have it, Apple easily had the most votes as many think this technology giant has become the next Microsoft (MSFT) in terms of dominance. Sticking with technology, there were also a lot of votes for Google (GOOG). The blue chip names that received a lot of entries as we referenced earlier were WMT, GE, and PM. It was also interesting to us to see heavy support for some recent IPO's in Verisk (VRSK) and A123 (AONE). Readers definitely think these freshly public companies have bright futures. Also, while energy was a strong theme with picks like RIG, XOM, we also saw strong voting for plays in the 'green' energy category like BYD and AONE. Lastly, the theme of financials was strong as many people decided that they wanted to own Goldman Sachs (GS) as they've emerged through the crisis as heavyweights, with votes also trickling in for JPM.
Overall, very interesting results and thanks again for participating! Hopefully in five years we'll be able to check back in on this post and see who had the magic crystal ball to pick the right stock. After all, the point of this exercise was stockpicking for the long-term. Who will win? We'll have to wait and see. In the mean time, make sure you check back with us for our constant coverage of hedge fund portfolios and the like.
As you can imagine, we received the full gamut in terms of answers but definitely noticed a few themes in the responses. Firstly, when it comes to 'buy and hold,' blue chip stocks are the name of the game. By far and away, the largest amount of entries centered around well established blue chip companies that have a proven brand and often pay a dividend. Secondly, two sectors received the most votes and those were: technology and energy. Readers definitely see those two arenas as areas of long-term growth and sustainability it seems.
Without further ado, onto the results. We'd first like to toss out a few honorable mentions that received a lot of votes, but not quite enough to land in the top 10. Some of those stocks include: Cree (CREE), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Leucadia (LUK), Range Resources (RRC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Monsanto (MON), Transocean (RIG), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), FPL Group (FPL), and Verisk (VRSK).
And here are the TOP 10 PICKS, with the #1 pick being the stock that received the most entries:
10. A123 Systems (AONE)
9. BHP Billiton (BHP)
8. JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
7. Google (GOOG)
6. BYD Company (Hong Kong: 1211)
5. General Electric (GE)
4. Philip Morris International (PM)
3. Walmart (WMT)
2. Goldman Sachs (GS)
1. Apple (AAPL)
So there you have it, Apple easily had the most votes as many think this technology giant has become the next Microsoft (MSFT) in terms of dominance. Sticking with technology, there were also a lot of votes for Google (GOOG). The blue chip names that received a lot of entries as we referenced earlier were WMT, GE, and PM. It was also interesting to us to see heavy support for some recent IPO's in Verisk (VRSK) and A123 (AONE). Readers definitely think these freshly public companies have bright futures. Also, while energy was a strong theme with picks like RIG, XOM, we also saw strong voting for plays in the 'green' energy category like BYD and AONE. Lastly, the theme of financials was strong as many people decided that they wanted to own Goldman Sachs (GS) as they've emerged through the crisis as heavyweights, with votes also trickling in for JPM.
Overall, very interesting results and thanks again for participating! Hopefully in five years we'll be able to check back in on this post and see who had the magic crystal ball to pick the right stock. After all, the point of this exercise was stockpicking for the long-term. Who will win? We'll have to wait and see. In the mean time, make sure you check back with us for our constant coverage of hedge fund portfolios and the like.
