Tips to Keep Your Stock Portfolio in Shape

Keeping your portfolio in shape is undoubtedly challenging, as the investment landscape evolves rapidly.

But the task can be more straightforward than some believe, as investors just need to show some initiative. For those looking to keep their portfolios in shape, here are a few pointers.

Weathering Volatility

Beta is a measure of a stock's systematic risk, or volatility, relative to the overall market. The S&P 500 is often used as the benchmark, with a beta of 1.0 representing the market average.

A beta greater than 1.0 indicates that a stock is more volatile than the market, while a beta less than 1.0 suggests the opposite. Essentially, low-beta stocks provide a higher level of ‘defense,’ whereas high-beta stocks are known for their higher returns, or ‘offense.’  

Investors can use beta to help balance out their risk profile, helping during intense volatility spikes. A classic example of a low-beta stock is Coca-Cola KO.

Staying Updated

Regularly reviewing earnings reports and news releases is crucial for staying informed as an investor. These reports provide a wealth of information, including revenues, expenses, and profits. By keeping up with this data, you gain a deeper understanding of the business and can spot any potential ‘red flags.’

In addition, quarterly reports and news releases provide deeper insights into a company's strategy and plans. For example, the report may detail new products or services planned for launch or discuss plans to tap new markets.

By understanding a company's strategy, investors can more easily evaluate its long-term growth potential. Nvidia’s NVDA quarterly releases have been a great example of why investors can’t fall asleep behind the wheel.

Let Winners Run

The "Let Winners Run" and "Cut Losers" strategy is simple: Investors should hold onto stocks that are performing well to benefit from their continued growth and compounding returns while selling underperforming stocks to prevent further downside.

Of course, selling losers also frees up capital for better opportunities. The approach helps provide a portfolio that grows steadily over time by leveraging the strengths of successful stocks while minimizing the impact of the ‘bad apples.’

Bottom Line

Keeping a portfolio in shape can be challenging, but it’s certainly not as difficult when implementing some guardrails.

Managing volatility, staying up to date, and letting winners run are all recipes for portfolio success.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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