5 Toxic Stocks to Sell Now

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Are you poisoning your portfolio? If you ownthese five toxic stocks, you might be.

I've made it no secret that I like stocks right now. In fact, I've been harping on the technical and fundamental reasons for buying equities since the start of the summer. But while I like stocks, I don't like all stocks.

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While stocks look strong in general right now, this isn't a "dartboard market." By that, I mean that we're not in the sort of stock market where you can find success by throwing a dart at a board full of ticker symbols (something that may pass for a successful strategy during a roaring bull market). Yes, stock picking is particularly valuable right now -- and knowing which stocks to avoid is more than half the battle for the best stock pickers out there. That's why we're taking a technical look at five names that could be toxic for your portfolio this fall.

To be fair, the companies I'm talking about today aren't exactly "junk."

I mean, they're not next up in line at bankruptcy court -- and, in fact, I even like a couple of this week's names fundamentally. But that's frankly irrelevant; from a technical analysis standpoint, they're some of the worst positioned names out there right now. For that reason, fundamental investors need to decide how long they're willing to take the pain if they want to hold onto these firms this Fall. And for investors looking to buy one of these positions, it makes sense to wait for more favorable technical conditions (and a lower share price) before piling in.

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For the unfamiliar, technical analysis is a way for investors to quantify qualitative factors, such as investor psychology, based on a stock's price action and trends. Once the domain of cloistered trading teams on Wall Street, technicals can help top traders make consistently profitable trades and can aid fundamental investors in better planning their stock execution.

So, without further ado, let's take a look at five "toxic stocks" you should be unloading in October.

 

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