Watchlist for December Stock Purchases

Hello everyone,

As it is the beginning of the month, I wanted to detail my stock watch list for December, as I plan on making two purchases this month.  These will be in addition to my regular monthly investments, as I leverage small buys to build positions in some core holdings in my portfolio, such as Proctor & Gamble Company (PG), The Walt Disney Company (DIS) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM).  All the buzz of the market now is related to oil and energy based companies, as oil has been on a continual decline since this summer and really hammered on Black Friday.  I've taken advantage of the decline, as I've initiated new positions in BP p.l.c. (BP) and BHP Billiton p.l.c. (BBL) during the past few weeks.  In addition, I continue to invest in XOM and ConocoPhillips (COP) on a monthly basis. 

As of now, I plan on making two purchases during December.  I would like to at least invest in one non-oil based company in one of the two purchases, as I’m getting very heavy in my small portfolio in the energy sector.  As some have suggested in comments, two areas I should consider is the financial sector and the healthcare sector.   

One of the investments I've been considering in the financial realm is the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS).  I've seen a few fellow bloggers that have picked it up lately, such as roadmap2retire.  As of today, BNS was trading at around $61-$62 and sporting a nice yield of around 3.85%.  BNS is trading at a P/E of around 11.77.  The 52 week low of BNS is $53.94, so it is quite a bit off from that, but still a decent value at this price point.  Here is a summary of BNS:

Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in the state of Canada on March 30, 1832. It commenced operations in Halifax. The Bank is a full-service financial institution, which operates its business in four business lines: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management and Scotia Capital. Canadian Banking provides a comprehensive array of retail and commercial banking services through branch and electronic delivery channels, to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in Canada. The retail services include consumer and mortgage lending, credit and debit card services, savings and retirement products, and transaction services.

Concerning the healthcare sector, I've narrowed my possible investment choice to GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK).  The recent closing price was $46.92, which is well off its 52 week high of $56.73.  At the current trading price, the yield is approximately 5.30%.  Summary of GSK:

GlaxoSmithKline PLC incorporated in United Kingdom. The Company creates discovers, develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products including vaccines, over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and health-related consumer products. The Company's principal pharmaceutical products include medicines in the following therapeutic areas: respiratory, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, oncology and emesis, dermatology, rare diseases, immuno-inflammation, vaccines and HIV. The Company is a science-led global healthcare company that researches and develops a broad range of innovative products in three primary areas of pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare. Its Pharmaceuticals business develops and makes medicines to treat a broad range of acute and chronic diseases. Its portfolio is made up of both patent-protected and off patent medicines. Its products include treatment for Infectious Diseases, Cancer, Epilepsy, Heart Disease, Asthma and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and HIV/AIDS. Its Vaccine business has approximately 900 million doses distributed to 170 countries in 2012. It produces pediatric and adult vaccines to prevent a range of infectious diseases including: Hepatitis A and B, Diphtheria, Tetanus and Whooping cough, Measles, Mumps and Rubella, Polio, Typhoid, Influenza, Bacterial Meningitis. The consumer healthcare business, markets consumer health products based on scientific innovation. Its products main categories are: Oral care, Nutritional, Total wellness, and Skin health. Its brands include Sensodyne, Panadol and Horlicks. Its drinks brands are Lucozade and Ribena. The Oral Care brands, alli and Abreva.

I plan on taking advantage of the oil slide as well, and after adding BBL the past few weeks, my first choice right now is BP.  I have a small position in BP and was planning on adding to it at some point, so the drop has opened up that opportunity.  At the current price, BP is yielding a very impressive 6.10%.  I’ll be on the lookout for other opportunities of course, and will be actively watching energy stocks this week. 

What do you think of GSK, BNS, BP?  Any other suggestions?