kondum Stock picks - Energy and Metals

DISCLAIMER: I am an amateur investor doing this strictly for entertainment (and self-education) purposes. None of the information or recommendations listed in this blog should in any way be considered an endorsement (positive or negative) of the companies that will be discussed. I bear no responsibility whatsoever of the usage of information posted here.

Now that the disclaimer part is taken care of, let's get down to the 'business' at hand. I am starting a mock investment portfolio where I will pick 5 stocks in the Energy and Metals sectors and simulate trading experience. It is important to understand here that I will NOT be actually investing any real mooolah. I will however, do the following:

-Start with a $10,000 pot (not real money)
-Goal: Beat the S&P index returns for the next year (July 2007-July 2008)
-Start with 5 stocks in Energy and Metals sectors
-Simulate selling and buying of the said stocks
-Post changes in portfolio as and when they happen
-Monitor movement of prices on a daily/weekly basis
-Post periodic news items about the stocks being monitored

kondum Energy and Metal picks
-COP: ConocoPhilips, US based Integrated Oil and Gas Company, $90.17 closing price on 7/13/07
-E: Eni, Italian Integrated Oil and Gas Company, $77.83
-CHK: Chesapeake Energy Corp., US based oil and natural gas exploration and production company, $36.32
-CCJ: Cameco, Canadian based Uranium mining, exploration, and sales company, $50.65
-PAL: North American Palladium, Canadian based Platinum and precious metal exploration and mining, $9.73

Total (mock) Investment as of 7/15/2007: $10043.65
(mock) first trade costs: $40
Amount Invested: $10003.65

Here we go. Let's see what's in store!