The stock market was slammed today after S&P downgraded the sovereign debt of Greece and Portugal.  For those of us waiting for a correction for some time now, this is an interesting day.  Now the question becomes whether this is the start of a larger correction or just a speed bump.  For months now, these types of days have been nothing more than speed bumps.

A Few Stocks I’m Watching

Philip Morris Int’l (PM)

Since being forced to sell my shares at $50/share due to my covered calls play earlier this year, I’m watching as this stock becomes a more attractive buy.  I’ve sold puts with a June $46 strike price, so there is a possibility that I’ll be forced to buy shares at $46 should PM be at or below this strike at the expiration date in June.  Of course, I’m completely fine with this since I love the stock and the dividend, and have already sold the same shares at $50.  Whether or not these shares hit the strike price according to the expiration date doesn’t matter as I see PM definitely having more attractive buying opportunities in the future.  PM closed today at $48.44.

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

Amazon took a hit today and closed the day at $142.02.  I shorted this stock at $149ish the other day after they took a beating after announcing less than enthusiastic guidance.  Of course, shorting AMZN over the last year has been a terrible strategy, so I will unload this position on any move over $150.  I continue to believe that AMZN (and other high flyers) HAS to correct at some point.  Whether the time is now or not, I don’t know.

Brunswick Corp (BC)

This stock has been skyrocketing over the last couple months and almost hit $20 a share recently.  Rumors are that the consumer is RE-LEVERAGING so stocks like this one will do well with such a development.  I’m still skeptical.  I’m looking to short this stock, but want it to cross back south of $18 a share first.  It closed today at $18.27

Moving Forward

Today was interesting, but we’ll need to string more days like this together before anything gets really interesting.  If you wonder why it sounds like I want the market to go down, well, the answer is I do.  Why?  Because I want to invest capital into attractive opportunities and with the market so high, I just don’t see attractive opportunities.  Remember, I’m young.  I can afford to be patient and allocate capital during attractive opportunities.

The only stocks I’m buying continuously, regardless of price action, right now are McDonalds (MCD) and Wal-Mart (WMT).  Both of which I have DRIP plans going where a small amount of money is automatically invested each month and dividends are auto-reinvested.