Before I start, I wanted to tell you that I think the quality of this website has regressed slightly. More specifically, I think my writing has gotten stale. I have found it difficult to devote as much time as I would want to this thing I enjoy doing. I will try and break out of that habit. In this post, I will discuss more stocks you should get out of. I know that must seem counter to what I just wrote, but I do not think I expressed as much as I could have in my last essay on this topic.

First on the chopping block, is Netflix. I think the streaming business is due for an overhaul. I am a big fan of what Disney is doing right now: raising prices, investing in parks, and repositioning in the market. I know people have been saying Netflix’s time is coming for about four years, and I am not saying Netflix's bell is tolling or anything like that: I just think Disney is positioned far better in that industry. I see a cap on what Netflix can do, something I see less of in their direct competitors: Apple, Disney, Amazon, Warner Bros. Now is not an awesome time to sell, because we are going through the tedious cycle where some hedge fund or research group downgrades the stock and people panic. If you buy now, I would feel confident telling you it will return a profit similar to that of the S&P in a year. However, on a longer-term basis, I feel less confident in Netflix.

Progressive is a company that I would consider taking the profit on. First of all, insurance companies are, I would say without a doubt, the most hated companies on the planet. With the oil and gas industry, people say stuff like “We need this to survive now.” With the defense industry, it is “somebody has to do it.” Nobody sees an insurance company and rushes to their defense. Progressive is at an all-time high, so literally the best time in its history to take a profit. Combine that with the election cycle where people get a little crazy, and you have some decent reasons to sell. If you believe in Progressive, that is great (even though you suck) and you should hold. However, if you have any doubt, I would just take the profit you were given, and go pay for a kid’s surgery.

GM is another stock I would get out of. I H-A-T-E selling stocks on the fall like this, and I know you do too, but I truly do not see a future where you make your money back. Since IPOing in 2010, GM has always been a loser. If you had invested $1,000,000 in GM when it IPO’d in 2010, you would have $870,000 dollars now. In comparison, if you had just bought SPY in 2010 with that same $1,000,000, you would now have $2,580,000. GM has never been a particularly good business, and even though they are down 13% this year, I still think they are overvalued. I am not sure that their future is being appraised correctly. GM will be paying their workers too much, GM is bloated, and GM does not make very good cars. You cannot be paying your workers that much, and be this bloated, but usually it is fine if you do not make very good cars. However, GM does not even make the best of the bad cars. International competitors are taking their lunch money.

The only thing that gives me pause about GM is that every metric out there says that they are incredibly undervalued right now. I am having a tough internal battle between my gut feeling and external factors. The more I think about it, the more I see a world where GM is up to $50 in five years. The brick wall I keep running into is that they just suck. Every investor is tearing their hair out right now, saying stuff like “past performance does not determine future results.” I just cannot get past the fact that they have always been a money pit.

Okay, so my final opinion boils down to this. If you already have a position in GM, go on and hold. I would not buy more stock, or expand my position at all. If you have a counter-argument, please email me, I am interested to hear what you guys have to think.

Finally, Hershey, you have got to get out of it. Preferably you sold a while ago, and you are just reading this and patting yourself on the back, but if you did not, go ahead and log that sell order. I know they are down 30% in the past six months, and therefore you probably watched your gains get erased, but you still have to be strong and sell. Honestly, there is not much of a future for chocolate/candy in America. They have expanded their portfolio of holdings to include companies like Reese’s, Icebreakers, and Kit-Kat, yet I still do not see potential. I still do not see a future where their individual holdings do well. Simply America has been falling out of love with candy for years now. In my opinion, one company will be left standing in the snack/junk food arena. I believe that the company will be PepsiCo. Along those lines, I would not own Hershey's stock. I do not see the moves they can make to get reposition their company.

Sell Netflix, sell Progressive, sell Hershey, and maybe sell GM.

I hope that was better. One of the reasons I have been struggling recently with this article is that school has been absolutely insane. I am a junior right now, and this is sort of my final year of preparations before I apply for college. Something I have been pushing myself for, so I am kind of frazzled right now. However, this website is a respite. I will not just abandon this website, because it is something I truly do enjoy. I will continue to increase the effort I put into this, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this.