Overall, 2012 was a great year to hold Michigan stocks. 33 of the stocks on my list ended the year with positive returns.
Only 4 stocks were down for the year. Adding insult to injury, all four were down more than 10% too. Rofin-Sinar Technologies (RSTI), Spartan Stores (SPTN), Kaydon (KDN), and Gentex (GNTX) were down 10.7%, 18.6%, 24%, and 37.5% respectively.
The S&P 500 rose 11.7%, leaving 11 Michigan stocks in the below average category for 2012. This total rises to 12 if you include CMS energy, which ended the year tied with the general market. If we consider the fact that most financial planners expect the stock market to average 6% returns per year, below average performance in 2012 is still really good.
Which brings us to the remaining 21 Michigan stocks. PulteGroup (PHM) absolutely buried the competition, yielding an eye-popping 174% return in 2012. Whirlpool (WHR) came in second place, with an increase of 109.8%.
Even though the difference between second and third place was more than 40%, the top 5 in 2012 still produced excellent returns. The group consisted of Mercantile Bank (MBWM), Steelcase (SCS), and Masco Corp. (MAS) with returns of 65.8%, 65.5%, and 51% respectively.
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This commentary does not constitute individualized investment advice. The opinions offered herein are not personalized recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities.
Disclosure: At the time of publication, Joel Wenger held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned within this article.
Mr. Wenger, who has successfully invested and traded in the US markets for over a decade, created a website to help you learn how to invest safely. Access this free resource today by visiting Invest-Safely.com.
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