Individual Stock Picking is a Fool's Game

One year ago today I shared my bets on the stock market with you, my faithful audience.

The time has come to see how my portfolio has fared.

Summary
Investment Strategy	Return on Investment
Kris' Picks	+42.2%
Nasdaq Composite	+16.7%
Microsoft (MSFT)	+7.3%
Dow Jones Industrials	+5.5%

Equity Office Properties (EOP)

Original Price	Current Price	Price Appreciation	Dividend Payout	Dividend Yield	Total Gain on Investment
$26.71	$35.55	33.1%	$2.00	7.5%	+40.6%

This stock seems to have panned out well. If any of you ever heard me screaming "The real money to be made is in skyscrapers!" This is the stock I was yapping about. An improving economy with more jobs lowered office vacancy rates and produced better cash flow for these guys. Not much else to say. A potential real estate 'bubble' burst was the big risk here in my mind, but no crash materialized.


Impac Mortgage Holdings (IMH)

Original Price	Current Price	Price Appreciation	Dividend Payout	Dividend Yield	Total Gain on Investment
$23.10	$17.54	-24.1%	$3.00	13.0%	-11.1%

Oh woe is poor IMH. This stock has been a pretty wild ride, but in the end it seems this one wasn't so great. The business itself seems to be doing ok, however many of their clients with variable interest rates have decided to pre-pay their mortgage balances to protect themselves from the higher mortgage payments that may come with higher interest rates. This high rate of pre-payment is cuts into the total amount of interest paid on the loan which means less money for these guys. Investors were not pleased. For the year they were able to sustain their great dividend payment, though it sounds as if they may have to revise the amount a bit lower next quarter.


Korea Electric Power (KEP)

Original Price	Current Price	Price Appreciation	Dividend Payout	Dividend Yield	Total Gain on Investment
$9.35	$17.88	91.2%	$0.56	6.0%	+97.2%

This pick merits a 'Booya'. The Won improved against the dollar allowing this power company to buy fuel more cheaply from overseas and relations with North Korea have improved quite a bit, further boosting the already great gains this stock made on its own merit.