Momentum Monday...Owning what you Hate...Are Verizon and AT&T the New Tobacco Stocks?

If given a choice, most Americans would sue their telephone (woops wireless) carrier ahead of a tobacco company.

In general it’s a three horse race in the hate department:

1. Wireless Provider2. Tobacco3. Airlines

Facebook ($FB) will be fourth one day I imagine.

Today, only one of these three is an investment atrocity for common shareholders…airlines. If you own an airline stock in the future, it will be because they fly on wind and sun (pigs will fly and cigarettes will lengthen your life).

Verizon ($VZ) and AT&T ($T) are Greece and Spain wrapped in a mystifying monopoly of evil and profits, but to common shareholders they are money since 2009. Both are at 5-year highs.

It is more important to think through why they are leading and what it means for the rest of the world than hate on them for their pricing and customer support. They are a bigger market ‘tell’ in 2012 than Goldman Sachs.

If you focus on strength, the tea leaves of investing are just easier to read. StockTwits50 is a good place to start your hunt. There is some incredible leadership in healthcare information and biotech that have persisted on this list while the markets have stumbled.

I delve deeper into the meaning of the price leadership of Verizon and AT&T in today’s show.

I also catch up on $NKE and my Facebook Investment (turned trade). I have been wrong many times in my investment career and I have survived only because I have learned to admit when I am wrong and move on. Mark Cuban understands that crucial concept – your first loss is your best loss and he doesn’t hesitate to exit when his initial trading thesis about $FB did not come to fruition. As the saying goes – It is Ok to be wrong. It is not ok to stay wrong.

We are definitely in a market of stocks and not a stock market. I think this trend continues for many years to come. That makes total sense now that indexing and ETF’s are all the average investor gets pitched and preached.

This is an exciting time for an individual investor considering all the tools at your disposal.