Bottom of the Barrel: The Quarterly Portfolio Review

Every so often it's good to step back and take stock of where we've been and where we're heading. And this holiday week seems like a good time to reflect on what's gone right -- and wrong -- in the Bottom of the Barrel portfolio over the last six months, and what the next half year might hold for small-cap investors. Today, we take a look at the highlights of companies profiled in the second quarter.

The table below contains the usual performance data for each company in the Barrel. This week it also contains the estimated quarterly earnings reporting date for each company and, where available, the First Call consensus earnings estimate for the quarter. Note many of the reporting dates are approximate, either taken from analyst reports, company disclosures or historic reporting patterns.

A Roller Coaster Quarter

The second quarter presented its shares of ups and downs for the Barrel portfolio. The average second-quarter addition to the portfolio lost about 3.34% from its profile date, before dividends. While I never like a losing record, that isn't bad considering both the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 were down about 15% and the Nasdaq Composite was down nearly 25% for the quarter. ...