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I had ONE stock that was positive today by a small amount, all other stocks and every fund was red (my funds are all equity funds). Ugh! Luckily I'm also short the Euro futures and that helped a lot today.
Most of my stuff was down or down considerably, but some interesting stories, including Blackstone, which wasn't down much and then worked its way up to positive and ended down slightly. I've also noticed that what was initially wrecked (REITs, utilities) seemed to be less wrecked today.
As I've mentioned, I try for a conglomeration of stuff that has approx 50% of the volatility of the 500- seemed to work today: S&P off -1.7%, portfolio off -0.9%.
All red except some bond funds, and RSIVX, RPHYX held steady. "All in the Valley of Death rode the MFOers..."
Out of deference to some here who find such responses annoying, I'll withhold comment on specific funds I own.
In general, on Tuesday bonds gained as the dollar strengthened. The Euro is nearing parity with the U.S. Dollar ($1.15). So, if you owned foreign bonds, you probably took a hit. I'd imagine that impacted foreign equity funds as well. Energy related funds or natural resource funds with heavy energy exposure were hit hard, loosing about double the overall market. There was wide-spread bleeding across most commodities markets due to Dollar strength. (This trend has persisted now for several months.) Gold suffered again, but losses were more muted . A couple gold funds I watch were both off about 2% and are also now down a few percentage points YTD. HSGFX was up a bit. Slight loss for MFLDX - but fared much better than overall market.
The unconstrained bond funds have done well in this down blip. In fact, they have done better than the standard fixed income funds in my small sample size.
PFF Yesterday ! PFF Today ! PFF Tomorrow ? "Also, interesting that Gartman's daughter is a senior producer at CNBC" How could we get along without this news ?
I saw that Gartman story earlier. He has a habit of being in the wrong side if a trade. The news about his daughter I didn't know. I wonder how much he gets per appearance? His daughter signs the checks?
From above: As I've mentioned, I try for a conglomeration of stuff that has approx 50% of the volatility of the 500- seemed to work today: S&P off -1.7%, portfolio off -0.9%.
Seems to work on upside also- today: S&P up 1.3%, portfolio up 0.7%.
A nice comeback day. Everything was up and even the bond funds stayed even. ARYVX also had a good day. Up .80% which is not bad for one of those dangerous 60/40 portfolios.
@JohnChisum- Hey, John- I must be misinterpreting your comment re 60/40- evidently you don't mean ARYVX itself, which Schwab says is 99% stock. Maybe you meant ARYVX as a component of a 60/40?
@DavidMoran: I'm linking some things for you to read, if you have specific questions I'll try and answer them. I got into PFF in March of 2009 at $19.07, since then my capital appreciation is just north of 75% and a monthly income of 5.5-6.00%. I wouldn't buy it today for price appreciation, but it has low volitility and a steady stream of income with a low expense ratio that can benefit any capital preservation portfolio. Preferred stocks do carry risk, and are sensitive to interest rates. Regards, Ted How Preferred Stocks Add Income To Your Retirement Portfolio: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-preferred-stocks-add-income-to-your-retirement-portfolio-2014-10-01/print
Comments
I think you are correct. The SP chart looks like we are right back where we started from.
Perhaps someone could start a thread on how to survive a bear market?
http://performance.morningstar.com/fund/performance-return.action?t=PQTIX®ion=usa&culture=en-US
All red except some bond funds, and RSIVX, RPHYX held steady. "All in the Valley of Death rode the MFOers..."
Recently sold MFLDX and went here,RLLBX. Recent multi-manager alternative/hedge fund/long short offering.
http://www.rothschild.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147486821
In general, on Tuesday bonds gained as the dollar strengthened. The Euro is nearing parity with the U.S. Dollar ($1.15). So, if you owned foreign bonds, you probably took a hit. I'd imagine that impacted foreign equity funds as well. Energy related funds or natural resource funds with heavy energy exposure were hit hard, loosing about double the overall market. There was wide-spread bleeding across most commodities markets due to Dollar strength. (This trend has persisted now for several months.) Gold suffered again, but losses were more muted . A couple gold funds I watch were both off about 2% and are also now down a few percentage points YTD. HSGFX was up a bit. Slight loss for MFLDX - but fared much better than overall market.
Anyone else seeing this also?
Also, interesting that Gartman's daughter is a senior producer at CNBC.
Seems to work on upside also- today: S&P up 1.3%, portfolio up 0.7%.
Thanks- OJ
Regards,
Ted
How Preferred Stocks Add Income To Your Retirement Portfolio:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-preferred-stocks-add-income-to-your-retirement-portfolio-2014-10-01/print
How Preferred Stocks Fit In Your Retirement Portfolio :
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-preferred-stocks-fit-in-your-retirement-portfolio-2014-11-14/print
3 Preferred-Stock ETFs With Dividends Of At Least 5%:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-preferred-stock-etfs-with-dividends-of-at-least-5-2014-11-10/print
PFF Fact Sheet:
http://www.ishares.com/us/literature/fact-sheet/pff-ishares-u-s-preferred-stock-etf-fund-fact-sheet-en-us.pdf
WSJ Preferred Stock Tables:
http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3024-Preferreds.html?mod=mdc_uss_pglnk
Quantum Online: Resource Site
http://www.quantumonline.com/QuickStart.cfm
Regards,
Ted