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Haliburton (HAL) has been fluctuating up and down for most of the year, but that is fine. Look for the big returns here come end of summer.

Ford (F) has been consolidating over the last couple of months. Watch closely as the stock should be ready to move to the next trading level soon.

After a great start to the year, Alcoa (AA) has experienced a minor pullback. Look for support around the $9.50 level.

Caterpillar (CAT) has been pretty steady for 2012. Look for that trend to continue in the coming months.

See how other competing bloggers performed:

All data is taken as of market close on March 30, 2012. Total calculated by taking average of all 4 returns.

After all, who wants to wait, right?

The best advice I can provide is to take any profit per trade and run. In the short-sighted world we live in today it is easy to get caught up in the hype of big returns and massive payouts, but the truth is that most trades won’t work out that way. You won’t find your Netflix in in every trade.

The best way to make money now is to think long-term and take profits as you see them. While an $80 profit off a trade might not seem a lot initially think about how a bunch of these could add up overtime similar to an interest rate? You make $80 off this trade, that trade, and maybe a couple more and suddenly you are racking up a nice little gain in your portfolio.

Click here to see more advice from some of the top traders in the game.

Just quickly looking at the chart you can see that Bank of America closed above the 200 day moving average, which is a very bullish indicator. We also have the 50 day moving average getting close to crossing back on top of the the 200 day moving average, which is bullish as well.

As a word of caution – remember that this is a financial stock, so keep stops tight because they can drop as fast as they climb.

While essentially doubling it’s stock price over a 2 month span is pretty impressive, I still do not buy all the hype coming out of the company…

Yes, the company got more subscribers than was projected, but projections were low and they are still lower than where they were back in the summer.

Netflix straight came out and said that Amazon (AMZN) would have a negative impact on their company.

Finally, we cannot forget the most important part… Netflix seems to be losing more streaming licenses than actually gaining.

All in all, what was once a strong monopoly is now part of a sector that is rapidly get more competition and more advanced. I have to say sell!

From a technical standpoint. The next couple of trading days will be key in determining the overall trend of these stocks.

Another piece of news to watch is when both these companies release their earnings in the next couple of weeks. With a very strong holiday  shopping season, both companies should perform well.

Well looking at the stock chart of Bank of America, I certainly like it to go higher. Volume is strong and we have a nice pullback play in the works. I think we should be getting at least one more strong boost out of this current trend higher before its over.

Keep the $7 mark as an area of support.

4 stocks to buy in 2012 – Haliburton (HAL), Alcoa (AA), Caterpillar (CAT), Ford (F).

2012 stock outlook – JP Morgan (JPM), VMware (VMW), Schlumberger (SLB), Dunkin Brand Groups (DNKN).

I have been intrigued by this stock since it IPO’d last year. Mostly because I love doughnuts and I feel Dunkin’ Doughnuts is a strong enough brand with great growth potential to blossom into a Mcdonalds (MCD) type stock.

See my 4 stocks to buy in 2012.

If there is one set back for this stock it is Baskin Robbins – the dying ice cream chain, but the expansion of Dunkin’ Doughnut stores should limit any negative impacts.

This stock won’t be a fast mover; however, if you hold on this company the risk is manageable and the growth potential is there.

I have had Schlumberger as part of my stocks to buy for the year for the last 3 years, and it somewhat pained me to go another way; however, I still believe both companies have a lot to gain in this coming year by the need for their oil services. It also helps that they are both a best of breed in this sector.

Most of the reasons I like Schlumberger are the same for why I like Haliburton, so I won’t go on and repeat that blurb.

From a technical aspect, my price target for Schlumberger is $95.

First up is VMWare (VMW). For those that have followed this blog for a while, I’m sure you remember my love-fest with EMC Corporation (EMC) a couple years ago. Well it seems like the virtualization play has been taking a while to develop, and 2012 may be the best year thus far.

Since the IPO, VMware has ranged from $30 to $110, with much of the growth done within the first year. As the economy took a tumble, the momentum of virtualization got stalled. Now that companies have survived the financial mess, now it is about rebuilding and innovating – companies will look towards the services offered by VMware and similar companies.

The bright spot for VMWare right now is that both EMC and Cisco (CSCO) are growing in the sector and they both have direct ties to VMware, which gives it instant credibility and a strong consumer base.

A negative side though is that the competition is starting to rise. A theory I have long held is that the first to the sector never lasts the longest. Ultimately new competitors will drive it out; however, that is generally a couple years out.

For now, 2012 looks to be a good year for VMware.

From a technical aspect, VMware is currently trading within a range. Good spots are obviously on the beaks and bounce off key areas.

What do you think about VMware? Leave a comment below.