Over the past few weeks, the market has been moving like a seesaw. On days where we receive lackluster economic news, stocks rally. On days where the economic news is surprisingly good, the market falls. Much of this stems from Wall Street’s obsession with the Federal Reserve, and the question of when it will finally raise interest rates. Another factor behind the volatility is the seasonal weakness that comes in the summer months.
Regardless of the reason, now is an excellent time to trim your portfolio of all dead weight. I’m talking about all of the companies that have announced mixed earnings results or have sloppy guidance looking forward. Of course, it can be tedious reviewing the latest earnings results for each of your companies, so I’ve broken down the top 40 big blue chips that you should take profits on immediately.
Consider Taking Profits on These 40 Stocks:
| Symbol | Company Name | Market Value | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade | Total Grade |
| ABX | Barrick Gold Corp. | $14.3 | D | D | D |
| APA | Apache Corp. | $23.6 | F | D | F |
| APC | Anadarko Petroleum Corp. | $43.8 | F | D | F |
| BCS | Barclays PLC | $70.0 | D | D | D |
| BHI | Baker Hughes Incorporated | $28.5 | D | D | D |
| BP | BP p.l.c. | $129.3 | F | D | D |
| COP | ConocoPhillips | $80.3 | F | D | F |
| DVN | Devon Energy Corp. | $27.7 | D | F | D |
| E | Eni SpA | $66.5 | F | D | F |
| EC | Ecopetrol SA | $32.0 | F | D | F |
| EOG | EOG Resources, Inc. | $49.5 | F | D | F |
| ERIC | LM Ericsson Telefon AB | $36.3 | D | D | D |
| FCX | Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. | $21.8 | F | F | F |
| GE | General Electric Company | $278.9 | D | D | D |
| GG | Goldcorp Inc. | $15.2 | D | D | D |
| HAL | Halliburton Company | $39.0 | F | D | F |
| HES | Hess Corp. | $19.8 | F | D | F |
| IEP | Icahn Enterprises L.P. | $11.3 | F | D | D |
| K | Kellogg Company | $22.5 | D | D | D |
| L | Loews Corp. | $15.1 | F | D | F |
| MPEL | Melco Crown Entertainment Limited | $10.3 | F | D | F |
| MRO | Marathon Oil Corp. | $19.0 | F | D | F |
| MT | ArcelorMittal SA ADR | $18.4 | F | D | F |
| NUE | Nucor Corp. | $15.4 | D | D | D |
| OKS | ONEOK Partners, L.P. | $10.4 | F | D | F |
| OXY | Occidental Petroleum Corp. | $59.2 | F | F | F |
| PHG | Royal Philips NV | $25.4 | F | D | F |
| PXD | Pioneer Natural Resources Company | $23.1 | F | D | F |
| S | Sprint Corp. | $18.6 | F | D | F |
| SE | Spectra Energy Corp | $24.2 | F | D | D |
| SNDK | SanDisk Corp. | $13.9 | F | D | F |
| SNP | China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. | $107.7 | D | D | D |
| STO | Statoil ASA | $62.4 | F | D | F |
| SU | Suncor Energy Inc. | $43.6 | F | D | D |
| SWN | Southwestern Energy Company | $10.5 | F | D | F |
| TOT | Total SA | $119.5 | F | D | F |
| TRP | TransCanada Corp. | $31.1 | D | D | D |
| TS | Tenaris S.A. | $17.7 | F | D | F |
| VALE | Vale S.A. | $33.9 | F | D | F |
| WYNN | Wynn Resorts, Limited | $10.8 | F | D | F |
If you still own at least one of these stocks, now would be the time to reconsider whether you want to continue holding it, or lock in profits and use that money towards better opportunities.
In my professional opinion, the best thing you can do to prepare for the year-end rally is invest solely in companies with the best earnings prospects. While I expect second-quarter earnings season to boost many stocks, the smart money will flow into those companies that are growing sales, growing earnings and beating analysts’ expectations. To ensure that you’re investing with the cream of the crop, I recommend that you run your portfolio through my Portfolio Grader screening tool. It doesn’t take much to see that sticking to A- and B-rated stocks pays off big in the long run.
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier
P.S. I will be on CNBC’s Squawk Box Wednesday, June 10, at approximately 8:10 a.m. ET. I’ll be providing an update on my stock picks for CNBC.