With earnings season finally drawn to a close, now seems an appropriate time to review our open positions here at the Rhino Stock Report. On the whole, we’ve seen stellar performance from our Rhino plays in 2009, and there are still chances this year to make new gains… But let’s take a look at some older open picks first.

J.M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM): The J. M. Smucker company has been one of our best-performing holdings to date — currently up 58% since it was recommended in April. Smucker has been getting new analyst and investor attention lately following yet another solid quarter of earnings released on November 20. And while those new shareholders have been late to the party, with the stock currently at a 52-week high, I see this one traveling higher still.

SPX Corp. (NYSE:SPW): While SPX Corp has had some trouble delivering the numbers we’ve been looking for in its last couple of quarters, a late November dividend and current 20% gain on the stock serve as a good reminder of why this “boring” stock was worth investing in. Recently, SPX’s CFO noted that the current economy made for a “realistic merger and acquisition environment.” That’s good news for a company that’s made considerable growth through acquisitions… the latest of which was completed on December 10.

Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE:CSC): While CSC’s latest quarter release seemed comparatively tough at first glance, a closer look revealed that one-time income from the second quarter of fiscal 2009 accounted for a lot of the “decline.” All told, it’s business as usual at CSC, with a seemingly constant stream of new contracts flowing in. At present, the company is our biggest open gain up 65.11% since March.

Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP): This beer maker has been making good on our bets since we doubled down back in March. We’re currently up an average of 21% on the double-sized stake. The brewer’s third quarter was solid, with increased cost savings from its joint venture with competitor SABMiller (OTC:SBMRY). And right now, it looks like the currency conversion issues that plagued us in the first quarter of the year could work in our benefit coming into the fourth quarter — a catalyst that could push shares higher yet in early 2010.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG): While NRG is currently our newest position, the stock is performing strongly, currently up more than 8% in the last month. That has been thanks in part to increased analyst interest in the stock on our coattails and strong call option interest that’s stacked in our favor. The company’s pursuit of profitable green initiatives should continue to bode well for us going forward.

Taking New Stakes in Rhino Stocks

I know that new subscribers are looking for guidance on whether it still makes sense to take positions in our open Rhino Stocks, particularly when so many of them are up so much. Right now, the only stock that is still a reasonable buy is NRG Energy. Disciplined investors never chase the market, and our other plays have already had too much time to run ahead.

That said, we’ll be taking new positions in December and January, so there will still be plenty of chances to get into stocks that remain within buying range. Watch your inbox this month and next for my next Rhino play as well as your Technical Analysis webinar.

Get Our Free Newsletter by Email

Tags: NRG, scs, sjm, spw, stocks, tap