Saving Up For the New Year Discounts

I can’t believe that it is almost that time of the year again! The holidays are just around the corner and a new year is about to commence.

Just like the ending of every year, the holiday season is usually the time when people go frantic over Christmas shopping and bargains. I am no different! My family has this tradition of going out on Boxing Day and lining up early in the morning for the year-end clearance sale.

Although we will probably do the same thing again this year, I will ensure that discounted stocks will be on my shopping list this time around. Unfortunately, most of the stocks that I am interested in is sitting at an all-time high. Especially with the holiday season coming up, I have decided to let the ‘holiday wave’ settle down first before initiating in any position.

Discounted Stocks on the Horizon

This is why I have decided to hold out on buying any stocks right now and to save up the cash for when the prices go back down. According to my research of market trends, the prices of these stocks that I want to invest in will usually dip sometime in late January to early February.

Seeing that seasonal investing is considered a form of technical analysis (and I have shifted to value investing), I am always on the lookout for good bargains. I have no doubt that there will be some discounts at the start of the upcoming new year.

My Watch-List

Here is a list of stocks that I am currently looking out for:

[column-group] [column]

Air Canada (AC-B)
American Express Company (AXP)
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Bank of Montreal (BMO)
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)
BCE Inc. (BCE)
BP plc (BP)
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B)
Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW)
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM)
Canadian National Railway Company (CNR)
Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (COS)
Canadian Tire Corp. (CTC.A)
Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ)
Chorus Aviation Inc. (CHR.B)
Cogeco Cable Inc. (CCA)
Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR.B)
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)
Chevron Corporation (CVX)
Dollarama Inc. (DOL)
Enbridge Inc. (ENB)
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
Fortis Inc. (FTS)
General Electric Company (GE)
[/column]
[column]

General Motors Company (GM)
Husky Energy Inc. (HSE)
Intel Corporation (INTC)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Liquor Stores N.A Ltd (LIQ)
Mastercard Inc. (MA)
McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
National Bank of Canada (NA)
Nuvo Research Inc. (NRI)
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG)
Quality Systems Inc. (QSII)
Rogers Communication Inc. (RCI.B)
Royal Bank of Canada (RY)
Shaw Communication Inc. (SJR.B)
Suncor Energy Inc. (SU)
Starbucks Corporation (SBUX)
Telus Corporation (T)
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)
TransCanada Corporation (TRP)
The Coca-Cola Co (KO)
Visa Inc. (V)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)
Walgreen Company (WAG)
Wells Fargo & Co (WFC)
[/column]
[/column-group]

Note: Henry from the Living At Home blog, wrote an excellent valuation of QSII on his blog.

As you can see, my watch-list is quite big! In order to keep track of all these stocks, I have an app on my phone that will sort all of these companies in price movements. This will notify me of which stocks are currently at a bargain for acquisition.

My Latest Stock Acquisitions

I have recently recruited Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR.B) and Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B) to my stock portfolio. Not only are these companies standing at a very attractive price, the dividends are not all that bad as well. However, I will go into more detail on my portfolio another time.

Will 2015 be a Bull or Bear Market?

To end things on a positive note, I will like to take some time to discuss my outlook on how I think the stock market will perform next year.

Personally, I see the year 2015 to be a bull market. Not only is the economy starting to make a recovery, unemployment rate is on the decrease. Although I don’t think 2015 will be as strong as this year, I am quite optimistic that the returns will be quite generous.

What are your thoughts on how the stock market will perform in 2015? Do you see it remaining a bull market or is the bear awaking from its hibernation?