As expected, the stock market rallied ahead of the Labor Day holiday last week. The S&P 500 went up about 1.4%, while the Dow tacked on a 0.8% gain. Now that the Labor Day holiday is over, however, the next big surge likely won’t come until the last 10 trading days of September, as portfolio managers use that time to do a little house cleaning. Before then, though, we need to get the losers out of our own portfolios so we don’t tack on any significant losses when that happens.
In today’s blog, I’ll show you how to trim the dead weight in your portfolio. I’m talking about all the companies that announced mixed earnings results last quarter 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 45 big blue chips you should steer clear of right now.
| 45 Household Names to Sell Right Away | Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade |
Fundamental Grade |
Total Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGN | Allergan plc | D | C | D |
| AIG | American International Group, Inc. | F | C | D |
| APC | Anadarko Petroleum Corporation | F | D | F |
| AZN | Astrazeneca PLC | D | C | D |
| AZO | AutoZone, Inc. | F | C | F |
| BUD | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | D | C | D |
| CL | Colgate-Palmolive Company | D | D | D |
| CSCO | Cisco Systems, Inc. | D | C | D |
| CVS | CVS Health Corporation | D | C | D |
| DHR | Danaher Corporation | D | C | D |
| DIS | Walt Disney Company | D | C | D |
| EPD | Enterprise Products Partners L.P. | D | C | D |
| ERIC | LM Ericsson Telefon AB | F | D | F |
| ETP | Energy Transfer Partners LP | F | D | F |
| GE | General Electric Company | F | D | F |
| GGP | GGP, Inc. | F | D | F |
| GIS | General Mills, Inc. | F | C | F |
| GPC | Genuine Parts Company | F | C | F |
| GSK | GlaxoSmithKline plc | F | C | D |
| HMC | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | F | B | D |
| IBM | International Business Machines Corporation | F | C | D |
| INTC | Intel Corporation | D | B | D |
| K | Kellogg Company | F | C | F |
| KEP | Korea Electric Power Corporation | F | D | F |
| KHC | Kraft Heinz Company | D | C | D |
| LOW | Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | D | B | D |
| MDT | Medtronic plc | D | C | D |
| MTP | Midatech Pharma Plc | F | C | D |
| NKE | NIKE, Inc. | D | B | D |
| NNDM | Nano Dimension Ltd | D | C | D |
| PFE | Pfizer Inc. | D | B | D |
| QCOM | QUALCOMM Incorporated | F | C | D |
| SBUX | Starbucks Corporation | D | C | D |
| SJM | J. M. Smucker Company | F | D | F |
| SLB | Schlumberger NV | F | C | D |
| SPG | Simon Property Group, Inc. | F | C | F |
| T | AT&T Inc. | D | C | D |
| TEVA | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited | F | D | F |
| TM | Toyota Motor Corp. | F | C | D |
| VNO | Vornado Realty Trust | F | D | F |
| WBA | Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc | D | C | D |
| WFC | Wells Fargo & Company | D | C | D |
| WPPGY | WPP Plc | F | C | F |
| XOM | Exxon Mobil Corporation | F | C | D |
| XRAY | DENTSPLY SIRONA, Inc. | F | F | F |
To wrap up, the best thing you can do to prepare (and to weather the current trading activity) is invest solely in companies with the best earnings prospects. Of course, the best place to start is to 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