4 Things Investors Should Do After Thanksgiving
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It's probably my favorite holiday of the year -- Thanksgiving.
Last year, we started a new tradition in my family. We travel to where the weather's warm and somebody else does the cooking.
When I return from the mini-vacation, my refreshed head goes back down with tunnel vision on the goals.
The space between Thanksgiving and the new year provides time for reflection. Everybody has their own thing. I like to relax with a glass of wine or pint of
Guinness
in front of the Christmas tree in an otherwise dark room thinking back on the last 11 to 12 months, while organizing a firm plan of attack for the next 365.
Investors: Use the end of the year wisely.
1. Think about taxes. That's especially important this year because we really have no clue how this fiscal cliff gets sorted out, if at all.
Will Republicans get their way and
spare the nation's wealthiest an across-the-board tax hike?
Or will Democrats win one for Mitt Romney's 47%?
The right tax move for you might be that you do nothing at all. It's almost intuitive -- capital gains and dividends might get taxed at a higher rate in 2013, so sell in 2012. But,
as TheStreet contributor Steve Cordasco explains
, if you're a long-term investor today's change in tax rates might mean nothing to you tomorrow.
2. Sell the losers. Take a look at 2012's biggest dogs -- such as
Molycorp
(MCP)
down 77%,
Hewlett Packard
(HPQ) - Get Report
off 54% and
JC Penney
(JCP) - Get Report
down 50% -- and unload the ones you own.
It's a bad way to start 2013 . . . with a loser. Plus, speaking of taxes, it actually feels kinda good to write off a $3,000 capital loss, at least relative to not being able to do it.
3. Stop hating Mark Zuckerberg. That's a weird one, I know, but it's crucial to investing success for the rest of the decade and beyond.
The tripe the
(FB) - Get Report
CEO takes really needs to stop.
Listen, the dude who invented the freaking Web browser -- Marc Andreessen -- said of Zuck
on CNBC
:
I think he's not only one of the best technology industry CEOs, I think he's one of the best CEOs, period
.
Use Zuckerberg as a symbol for what Andreessen is bullish on. Not just Facebook, but "mobile tech" in general. You will be caught with your pants down in 2013 if you bet against mobile.
4. Buy
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
.
The holiday quarter should break records.
The writing continues to collect on the wall. Monday, in
Apple: Here's Why the Stock Will Go on an Epic Run
, I laid out some of the support. People are buying Apple products in lieu of pretty much everything else
everybody else
is selling.
Then, on Tuesday,
Nielsen
reported
that, among 6- to 12-year-old American children, 48% expressed interest in an iPad over the next six months. That tops the list.
Thirty-six percent want an iPod Touch; 36% want an iPad Mini; 33% want an iPhone; 31% want a "computer" (gee, I wonder what kind). The only other things that come close -- gaming consoles at 39%, 31%, 29%, 28%, 26% and 25%. Twenty-nine percent of these youngsters long for a "Tablet computer other than an iPad," however a scant 6% are asking for
Microsoft's
(MSFT) - Get Report
Surface tablet.
Given to wider ranging tastes, the percentages are smaller for persons 13+, however Apple still leads the pack with 21% noting they have an interest in buying an iPad over the next six months. Eighteen percent will look at another type of tablet, while 14% will consider iPhone and 11% an iPad mini.
Heading into Apple's late-January first quarter earnings release or shortly thereafter (but probably before), I would take some (or all) profits in Apple and wait to see what happens, if anything,
.
Rocco Pendola is
TheStreet's
Director of Social Media. Pendola's daily contributions to
TheStreet
frequently appear on
CNBC
and at various top online properties, such as
Forbes
.