Although I personally believe that index funds are the way to go for most investing, and I keep about 95% of my investments in either an index fund or a target date fund, I love stocks. I love tracking stocks, I love following stocks, I love reading about them, and occasionally trying my hand at them. I keep a few hundred dollars set aside for individual stocks, as a means to scratch the investment itch that I’ll occasionally get. It’s fun trading and seeing how I do! Normally I’m reminded that I’m actually not as good as I think I am, and I’m all the more resolute in my 95% index fund strategy!

I did a post last November in which I broke down what stocks I’d been watching, buying and how things went. I really enjoyed it and attempted to repeat the exercise – this time with ‘post-Covid’ stocks. It appeared that COVID would no longer ravage and put our world and economy on hold like it did in early 2021, and I figured that mid-2021 we’d be emerging from the COVID world into the post-COVID world. In this new world, I didn’t think it’d look the same as pre-COVID did, but I did have a few ideas on how I thought we’d be out and about spending our money!

What I was watching, buying, and why

Retail – we’ve seen a ton of stimulus in the past year, and it appears to me that the US government has made it clear that they are willing to spend to keep the economy firing on all cylinders. As we emerge out of this ‘COVID slumber’, I am guessing that a lot of people will feel more comfortable shopping in stores, and will do so a lot more often. 

Food/Entertainment – I believe that people (including myself) have really missed being out and about. As nice as takeout is, there’s just something about going out to a restaurant. I think also that people will have reflected during COVID that as nice as buying ‘stuff’ is, that experiences will last longer than stuff, and they’ll want to get out and about spending money rather than staying in. I think we’re gonna see a ton of sporting events, concerts, and other types of events that people will flock to. 

Technology – tech stocks performed well during the pandemic and I think that a lot of them will be here to stay. I think a lot of us will find our employers offering more flexible work arrangements (meaning video conferences are here to stay), and all the chats, chat bots, and new websites that businesses spent money upgrading to, I think those will continue to be a dominant force moving forward. 

Travel – probably the thing I personally missed the most during COVID was travelling. Mrs. Money and I love to travel and we have dearly missed flying, hotels, beaches, mountains, big cities, etc. I think the travel industry is going to come roaring back and especially this summer and fall, we’re going to see a lot of people taking vacations.

What I ended up buying

Apple – I’m a huge fan of Apple, their products are great, and they last a long time. They’re super innovative, always looking to make my life better. Also, they’re an amazing business that earns tons of money from their sales; they’re continuing to grow, and they pay a nice dividend. For whatever reason, the stock market doesn’t seem to love them as much, but that’s fine by me! Apple has been a winner for me in the past and I’ve bought a few more shares! 

AirBnb – I think that during the pandemic, AirBnb fared much better vs hotels, and I think that post-pandemic, a lot of us will still be looking for more private space when we travel. AirBnb definitely has some controversy around fees, hosts, local legislation issues but I think they’re maturing past that, and will only be more popular post pandemic, and this summer is going to be crazy with all the traveling I believe we’ll all do. 

Dollar General & Walmart – Stores like these were valuable during the pandemic, and made lots of strides to innovate. I think that post-pandemic as many of us get out and shop more, these two will be beneficiaries of that extra spending from many Americans. 

Surprisingly, that was all that I bought. I had my sights on a few other stocks, like Darden (Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouses), Live Nation (for concerts) or Twilio (a technology company) but I never ended up buying them. The stock market feels quite overvalued to me, and I just couldn’t bring myself to paying such high prices. I worried a bit that the post-COVID boom was already priced in a big, and that I wouldn’t see much growth in the stock. Instead I was putting more of my investing money into an index fund, where I felt it might be a bit safer! 

How things fared 

Looking at where things ended up, I think I did good, but not as good as I did last go round. This economy is hard to predict! Here’s how the stock picks that I made ended up doing for the first half of 2021. I compare this to a baseline of $VTI, one of my favorite index funds, which is where I end up putting about 95% of my money. Year to Date, $VTI has returned 17.41%.

Apple – I’m still convinced Apple is a phenomenal company that’ll continue growing at an impressive rate. I signed up for Apple Music this year, and Mrs. Money got an Apple watch – and I imagine many readers also were Apple customers one way or another! However, year to date, Apple stock has only grown 8.15%.

AirBnb – Although plenty of people are taking vacations and sounds like a lot are using AirBnb, the company has struggled a bit. AirBnb went public in early December 2020, and I feel like IPO stocks always go up really high really fast, then steadily come back down to earth as reality sinks in. Although I was WAY up earlier in 2021, as of now I’m only 8% up year to date.

Dollar General / Walmart – with my retail picks, I guess people aren’t spending as much money as I had hoped! Or perhaps these companies already had ran way up in 2020 and the market had cooled on them a bit. Year to date so far Dollar General has grown 4.21%, and Walmart is down 4.38%!

Just for fun, had I listened to myself and bought Darden, I would have seen a 27% return, 23% for Live Nation, and 16% for Twilio! Those would have crushed my other pics!

Summary

Stock picking is definitely riskier than buying index funds, but it’s certainly more fun. None of my actual picks did nearly as well as my safe index fund did, just further reinforcing to me that index funds are the way to go!