There’s no sugarcoating it—last week was the roughest week on Wall Street in over a year, as the S&P 500 dipped 2.6% and the Dow dropped 3.5%. The sharp turn on Wall Street filled my inbox with questions. What sparked the selloff? Should we be worried? And what can we do about it?
So today I’ll answer these questions as well as give you 68 trade recommendations to help you smooth out any further volatility in your portfolio.
What caused the selloff?
On Thursday, it was announced that Chinese factory activity, as measured by the flash Markit/HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index, contracted in January for the first time in six months, pointing to a weak start for China’s economy in the New Year.
The index was weighed down by weaker domestic and export demand, coming in at 49.6 in January compared with December’s final 50.5 reading, dropping below the 50 line that separates expansion from contraction and sparking fears that China’s economy may be at a tipping point.
Should we be worried?
I wouldn’t be too concerned about this temporary dip. Despite the market’s knee-jerk reaction, China’s official PMI is almost always higher than HSBC’s PMI and China’s Lunar holiday is notorious for distorting economic statistics. In addition, even though China’s annual GDP growth decelerated very slightly to a 7.7% annual pace in the fourth quarter, down from a 7.8% annual pace in the third quarter, domestic consumption continues to rise in China, which is helping to drive worldwide GDP growth.
What can we do about it?
I was out in the market last week, buying a number of stocks “on sale” for some of my other accounts—and I recommend that you do the same. I advise that you use the opportunity to add premium stocks that have pulled back, and I’ll help you get started.
68 Recommendations Straight Out of Portfolio Grader
Last Week’s Holds, Now Buys
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| AAPL | Apple | B | B |
| BBT | BB&T Corporation | B | C |
| BEAM | Beam | B | C |
| CHK | Chesapeake Energy | B | C |
| COL | Rockwell Collins | B | B |
| DFS | Discover Financial | B | B |
| ETP | Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. | B | C |
| FITB | Fifth Third Bancorp | B | B |
| GD | General Dynamics | B | C |
| MWE | MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. | B | D |
| NEE | NextEra Energy | B | B |
Last Week’s Sells, Now Holds
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| AES | AES Corporation | D | C |
| CLR | Continental Resources | D | B |
| CPB | Campbell Soup | C | C |
| DISCK | Discovery Communications | D | C |
| EXC | Exelon | D | B |
| GPS | Gap Inc. | D | B |
| HOT | Starwood Hotels & Resorts | D | B |
| JNPR | Juniper Networks | C | B |
| KO | Coca-Cola | D | C |
| LINTA | Liberty Interactive | D | C |
| MO | Altria Group | D | B |
| RAI | Reynolds American | D | B |
| SJM | J. M. Smucker | C | C |
| SWN | Southwestern Energy | C | B |
| VRSK | Verisk Analytics | D | B |
Downgrades
Last Week’s Buys, Now Holds
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| ADP | Automatic Data Processing | C | C |
| ADSK | Autodesk | C | B |
| AON | Aon plc | C | B |
| AV | Aviva plc | C | B |
| BAC | Bank of America | C | B |
| BIDU | Baidu | C | B |
| BWA | BorgWarner | C | B |
| CA | CA | C | B |
| DD | E. I. du Pont de Nemours | C | B |
| DG | Dollar General | C | B |
| DLTR | Dollar Tree | C | C |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | C | C |
| KSS | Kohl’s | C | C |
| LVS | Las Vegas Sands | C | B |
| MFC | Manulife Financial | C | B |
| MHFI | McGraw Hill Financial | C | B |
| MJN | Mead Johnson | C | B |
| PRU | Prudential Financial | C | C |
| SNDK | SanDisk | C | B |
| UPS | United Parcel Service | C | C |
| VLO | Valero Energy | C | B |
| WHR | Whirlpool | C | B |
| YNDX | Yandex | C | B |
Last Week’s Holds, Now Sells
| Symbol | Company Name | Quantitative Grade | Fundamental Grade |
| ABT | Abbott | D | B |
| AGN | Allergan | D | B |
| AME | AMETEK | D | B |
| APD | Air Products and Chemicals | D | C |
| CSX | CSX | D | C |
| EL | Estee Lauder | D | C |
| GE | General Electric | D | C |
| HAL | Halliburton | D | C |
| ISRG | Intuitive Surgical | F | C |
| ITW | Illinois Tool Works | D | C |
| JPM | JPMorgan | D | C |
| LB | L Brands | D | C |
| PH | Parker-Hannifin | D | C |
| RCL | Royal Caribbean Cruises | D | C |
| ROST | Ross Stores | D | C |
| SDRL | Seadrill | F | B |
| SLB | Schlumberger NV | D | B |
| SLF | Sun Life Financial | D | C |
| SWK | Stanley Black & Decker | D | C |
