The past year has been a rather dramatic one of the market, but also a very formative year for InvestorPlace.com. We ramped up our content output, launched a host of new features and managed to forge some great partnerships.
Oh yeah, and I got to grill the president in June. Not a bad year.
We assuredly have made our share of boneheaded calls. In the interest of full disclosure, I have tried to air my track record here — and will make a concerted effort to own up to my mistakes in the new year.
Because trust me, mistakes will be made.
But before we turn the page on the calendar and start grading InvestorPlace.com on its calls in 2012, I’d like to take a moment to recap some of our very best work from the past year.
Here are what I consider the seven best examples of the kind of work we provide here, and the quality of work I hope we can replicate in the new year:
#7: 5 Stocks Doomed to Disappear in 2012
This is a bit of an unfair metric, but judging by clicks alone, the most popular story of 2011 was the very recent article about stocks that might not make it in 2012. InvestorPlace has grown by leaps and bounds in recent months, so it doesn’t surprise me that a recent pick would be at the head of the pack when measured by clicks — some 330,000 and counting in just the past week alone!
#6: A Modest Proposal to Fix the Debt Ceiling: Strategic Default
Styled after Jonathan Swift’s sarcastic satire, I wrote: “America, it is time we just walk away.” The heck with taxes, the military and government in general … who needs ’em!
#5: Is the Gold Bubble Reaching Its Climax?
Charles Sizemore is one of the smartest contributors we have, and he showed it in this article on Aug. 22, with a headline that proved to be right on the money — in both substance and timing. His bubble call came just days before gold peaked over $1,900 per ounce. Charles reiterated his call in this article on Sept. 20. Gold is at $1,570 right now.
#4: This Week’s Market Movement a Historically Bullish Sign
Daniel Putnam is one of our most shrewd technical analysts and does a great job of making sense of the charts. Case in point: A call in the first week of October that the bulls were back. The Dow is up 12% since then and tallied the best October in a quarter of a century.
#3: Don’t Panic: The U.S. Credit Downgrade Changes Nothing
I am particularly proud of this column. I asserted that the downgrade changed little — it wouldn’t change the debate in Washington, it wouldn’t affect the economy and it wouldn’t affect Treasury rates. When the market opened down 500-plus points on Monday, some folks thought I was crazy. But time, it seems, has proven me right.
#2: Hewlett-Packard Embodies What’s Worst in Corporate America
My reasons cited in August: Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) is characterized by stupidity, a lack of innovation, bloated operations and no leadership. Judging by the comments on IP.com and reprinting of the column on MarketWatch and Huffington Post, among others, many of you agree with my rant.
#1: Netflix Coverage
At InvestorPlace.com, we strive to offer a variety of points of view. Though sometimes this can create contradictions between articles, I strongly believe individual investors benefit from the breadth of ideas we offer — since, let’s be honest, no one person can be right all the time.
On one of the biggest stories of the year, however, our many disparate contributors all managed to be saying the same thing. Namely, that Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was doomed.
Netflix stock closed the year around $70 — an ugly 77% flop from its 2011 peak above $300 per share.
Here are just a few of our articles warning investors to sell, short or avoid NFLX.
- Tyler Craig on Sept. 7, Netflix at $216.00.
- Sam Collins, also on Sept. 7, Netflix at $216.00
- Will Ashworth on Sept. 27, Netflix at $127.49
- Jamie Dlugosch on Oct. 17, Netflix at $117.33
- Charles Sizemore on Oct. 26, Netflix at $79.40
- Lawrence Meyers on Nov. 3, Netflix at $92.29
Tyler and Sam were first in line after the August volatility — but all of our writers deserve credit for sticking with this story and making sure investors continued to know the score.
Jeff Reeves is the editor of InvestorPlace.com. Write him at editor@investorplace.com, follow him on Twitter via @JeffReevesIP and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook. Jeff Reeves holds a position in Alcoa, but no other publicly traded stocks.
