As we often do, Rono and I agree on a number of options here. We use U.S. Global World Precious MInerals (UNWPX - we use UNWIX) and a smattering of First Eagle Gold (SGGDX) for mining stock exposure as well as some bullion. For gold and silver bullion, we use Central Fund of Canada (CEF - closed-end fund). It is taxed like a mutual fund, unlike GLD or MVG, which are taxed as collectibles and better used in retirement accounts. And Permanent Portfolio is in almost every client portfolio.
Other options include U.S. Global Resources (PSPFX - we use PIPFX), which owns all kinds of mineral plays. If you are looking into non-coal, oil, and nuclear energy, Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy (GEX) would be worth a look. We use it as a part of our green and socially responsible allocations.

Hi paule,
I use Google Finance for a quick and dirty look. No spreadsheets set in the pc.
I do have a homemade worksheet (put together in MS Word) for our holdings by vendor where I total all of the true dollar values at the end of each business week. So, I check all vendor accts each week for the new total dollar value, write those onto the worksheet and use a handy-dandy HP caluclator to get the totals for comparing to the dollar value start at the first of the year and to also compare to the prior week ending to determine the week/YTD values you see at the Funds Boat. It really does not take too much time and I don't have to be concerned about linking our accts to some joe-blow magic, automated acct that will do all of the math. Someone else's "cloud" computer is not going to have that kind of knowledge about our private affairs.
NOW....for the below Google Finance look: At Google Finance I did "sign up" for a Google acct. to allow us to establish a "portfolio". I do not find that Google is invasive on the surface although they may keep track of everyone's accts.; they do not know whether the "portfolio" is real or test; as one may have more than one portfolio. If you look at the Google Finance page you will find the icons to create an acct, make a portfolio (I recall on the left page side). I clicked onto the "new/create) portfoio and the page then has an enter ticker at the bottom and Google matches the ticker to the fund name to add and also "add transactions data". The trans. data I enter is NOT the number of shares, BUT is the %/percentage of a particular funds holdings relative to all of our holdings SO, I did have to total the dollar values of each fund and find its percentage relative to 100%. THIS number becomes the number of shares held. SO, our full list of funds below....total 100 or 100%. NOW, obviously if all of the equity funds had big moves in 3 months and the IG grade bonds just stayed steady with no big NAV changes....the real dollar values would get out of line. SO, every 3 months at the least; I recalculate the % value of a given fund to the total cash value of our total holdings and adjust this a fewer or more shares. This is not necessary to do to just watch the daily NAVS....you could give each fund a "1" share amount and Google will still list the fund values/% changes each day. Copy/paste retained some of the format below. This is from the Monday markets close data. The "xxxxx" is the column where the number of shares would be placed.
I hope the makes some sense.....tis not very handy to describe, vs speaking directly to you and pointing a finger at a pc screen and saying now do this and that.
Summary: most of my work is old fashioned paper, pencil and calculator. This really does not take much time and I sometimes seem to get a better "feel" for money directions with this "hands on" approach, VS having a pc program dump numbers to me on the screen.
KEEP in mind, that although none of our holdings will ever move together; one does get a feel for holdings, what their "mood" tends to be.....I suppose the "intuitive" side of one's holdings. We have a fairly long list of HY/HI funds. BUT, I do know to a point that IF this sector is very happy or sad; that all of these funds will have similar reactions, so I do not really have to monitor each and every fund and treat them as one big HY/HI holding. If the sector starts to really stink, I most surely will look to find who is most happy or sad and make some decisions. NOW, this can not apply to the equity holdings, as I know the CAMAX below is not going to function in the same fashion as our Fido Select Auto or Leisure funds, UNLESS the whole global equity market is strongly traveling up or down. These do require a bit more attention. THIS is when I use Barcharts and Stockcharts.com to get a better look at particular charts and movements for a particular fund.
NOW, if I were an ETF trader; well, that would be a whole different world of watching and moving monies more often. And to note, as has been discussed many times at FA, I do rely on the active managers abilities to do some of our work.....as with the Loomis-Sayles multi sector bond fund. Some of our other bond fund holdings are in the same sectors as are already mixed within a LS style bond fund. So, in many cases with our overall portfolio, we are multi-multi sectored with some redundancy. This is okay, too; as we have spread the managers skills and investment styles around for one big BLEND of our holdings.
Ultimately, we all have our holdings dropped into the Veggie-Matic blender of funds and come out with a "taste/risk" that suits one's palate of flavor. Some like it sweet and some tend to the sour side.....all different, EH?
NOTE: I have written before, but our groups of holdings are somewhat ditated by the fact that we have several retirement accts and in some cases have only one HY choice. So, that is the forced pick of the litter for some monies.
Paule, I do hope this makes some sense.
I gotta get me butt on the road...............
Regards,
catch
Name▲▼ Symbol▲▼ Last price▲▼ Change▲▼ Shares▲▼
Cambiar Aggressive... CAMAX 15.69 -0.04 (-0.25%) xxxxx
Delaware Corporate Bond... DGCIX 5.89 +0.01 (0.17%)
Delaware High-Yield... DHOAX 4.24 +0.01 (0.24%)
Transamerica Partners... DIHYX 8.89 +0.01 (0.11%)
Delaware Diversified... DPFFX 9.24 +0.01 (0.11%)
Fidelity Capital &... FAGIX 9.84 +0.01 (0.10%)
Fidelity Investment... FBNDX 7.43 +0.01 (0.13%)
Fidelity Convertible... FCVSX 27.35 -0.02 (-0.07%)
Fidelity Select Leisure FDLSX 92.69 +0.03 (0.03%)
Fidelity Value FDVLX 74.34 +0.07 (0.09%)
Fidelity Global Cmdty... FFGCX 18.45 +0.13 (0.71%)
Federated High-Income... FHIIX 7.73 +0.01 (0.13%)
Fidelity Low-Priced... FLPSX 41.04 +0.02 (0.05%)
Fidelity New Markets... FNMIX 15.70 +0.02 (0.13%)
Fidelity Select Gold FSAGX 51.81 -0.09 (-0.17%)
Fidelity Select... FSAVX 45.38 -0.05 (-0.11%)
Fidelity Strategic... FSICX 11.23 +0.02 (0.18%)
Fidelity Large Cap Value FSLVX 11.23 +0.03 (0.27%)
Fidelity Total Bond FTBFX 10.77 +0.01 (0.09%)
Loomis Sayles Bond Instl LSBDX 14.65 +0.03 (0.21%)
Matthews Asian Growth &... MACSX 18.17 +0.07 (0.39%)
Oppenheimer Core Bond Y OPBYX 6.50 +0.01 (0.15%)
PIMCO Total Return Instl PTTRX 10.91 +0.02 (0.18%)
Fidelity High Income SPHIX 9.19 +0.01 (0.11%)
Templeton Global Bond C TEGBX 13.85 +0.01 (0.07%)

So Scott, if you don't mind my asking, how exactly is your retirement portfolio structured. Are you more than 10% invested in alternatives, and how did you decide on that particular allocation.

Howdy,
Again, a thank you to all who post the links and also start and participate in the many fine commentaries woven into the message threads.
NOTE: For those who visit MFO, this portfolio is designed for retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep; if and when it returns. This is not a buy and hold portfolio, and is subject to change on any given day; based upon perceptions of market directions. All assets in this portfolio are in tax-sheltered accounts; and any fund distributions are reinvested in the fund. Gains or losses are computed from actual account values.
While looking around....."Going to do it...." Fund money allocation is not unlike those who garden, have guns or perhaps a classic auto. Now you may find the choices a bit of a strange mix; but they do have relationships. For the gardeners, at least in the frost zone states; there are days to read the seed catalogues and think through the winter months; days to ponder what veggies or flower plants to buy and place, once you are able to actually visit an open garden center and know that planting time is just around the corner; except for the gardener's black swan of a late frost that may kill off anything that has been planted. The gun owners, who also hunt have similar challenges. At the very least, one may clean and condition a gun to be ready for use for target practice or actual hunting. Practice is a requirement, if one is a hunter. Without the practice, the hunt may be a waste of time and money; except for those who also enjoy the walk about in the field or forest. For a classic auto owner (defined by one's age group) in the cold weather states; there may be any number of things to do during the winter months of storage; which follow anything else that was already done in the months of the fall, before the big sleep. All of these facets of one's life have common ties as to; study, continued practice, patience and expected outcomes based upon previous and new knowledge, as well as the black swans of these above areas; which may change one's plans on a given moment. Weather conditions for the above 3 areas would be the most common event changer that could affect all; but any number of particular and specific events may place a special circumstance for a given area. One may drive the car or go hunting or target practicing on a cold and frosty day; but not plant the garden. A more pleasant and warmer day may provide the opportunity to plant garden and flower seeds, or perhaps actually set some plants and the light rain does not matter; except that the hunter or classic car person will likely choose to skip the day for another with dry prospects. And of course, there are the days or periods (sometimes for months) when everything weather related is a big go for all 3 of the above to be happy-time. Take your best thinking with you from the list above or whatever other area helps you think and prepare; and move this over to your thinking area of the cranium for your investments. There are seasons for some investments and some investments for most all seasons. All of us attempt to determine our allowed (risk) choices. As with the above; sometimes the plants get killed by frost and have to be purchased again and planted that second time, sometimes the hunter gets caught in bad weather with no luck and extra work to clean the wet gun and sometimes the classic auto person finds themselves 100 miles from home and the safety of the garage in one of the worse rain and hail storms they have seen in years; although the weather forecast made no mention of such weather conditions pending.
Such are the numerous battles with investments attempting to capture a decent return and minimize the risk.
We live and invest in interesting times, eh?
Hey, I probably forgot something; and hopefully the words make some sense.
Comments and questions always welcomed.
Good fortune to you, yours and the investments.
Take care,
catch
SELLs THIS PAST WEEK:
NONE
BUYs THIS PAST WEEK:
NONE
Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a+.44% move this past week. WELL, the best laid plans...blah, blah, blah. Had some plans for clearing the "mold" off of our cash pile last Friday and had to venture away from any online connection at noon and did not return home until after the markets were long closed. SO, we will take another peek today, Monday, April 4 to find what stirs. Missing any Friday move is not problematic; as Friday may not be the best day to flip monies into a new direction anyway; and of all days; APRIL FOOL'S DAY ! However, this house is still looking at adding to energy, materials/chemicals and related going forward. And yes, we are satisfied with our risk adjusted returns YTD. If the portfolio can pull a +10 to 12% for the year; you will not hear any whining from this house.
The old Funds Boat may make 5% or 25% this year. I expect some rough waters, changing winds and opposing currents; causing the most serious attention being given to a firm hand upon the rudder control.
How our boat's cargo is doing:
Week: = +.44%
YTD = +2.74%
Reference points, week / YTD:
SP-500 "SDY" = +1.9% / +4.7% (SP-500,dividend inclusive etf)
Nasdaq = +1.7% / +5.2%
(per Google Finance)
And the cargo is:
CASH = 16.3%
Mixed bond funds = 78.4%
Equity funds = 5.3%
-Investment grade bond funds 12.2%
-Diversified bond funds 18.5%
-HY/HI bond funds 28.8%
-Total bond funds 14.6%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds 4.3%
-U.S./Int'l equity funds 5.3%
This is our current list:
---High Yield/High Income Bond funds
FAGIX Fid Capital & Income
SPHIX Fid High Income
FHIIX Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
DHOAX Delaware HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
DGCIX Delaware Corp. Bd
FBNDX Fid Invest grade
OPBYX Oppenheimer Core Bond
---Global/Diversified Bonds
FCVSX Fidelity Convertible Securities (bond/equity)
FSICX Fid Strategic Income
FNMIX Fid New Markets
DPFFX Delaware Diversified
TEGBX Templeton Global
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
CAMAX Cambiar Aggressive Value
FDVLX Fidelity Value
FSLVX Fidelity Lg. Cap Value
FSAGX Fidelity Select Metals
FSAVX Fidelity Select Auto
FDLSX Fidelity Select Leisure
FFGCX Fidelity Global Commodity
FLPSX Fidelity Low Price Stock

From WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576239471879013988.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Target-date fund companies are focusing on improving diversification, but that still may mean a focus on equities; they're not necessarily embracing the relative safety of cash and fixed-income investments. Still, that level of diversification is difficult for 401(k) investors to replicate on their own, and it's what can make a target-date fund a valuable tool. About 97% of the 401(k) plans managed by Fidelity Investments, covering 11 million participants, offer a target-date (also known as life cycle) fund. And 53% of eligible participants invest in such a fund.
Among defined-contribution plans managed by Vanguard Group, 79% offered a target-date fund in 2010, and 48% of eligible participants used such funds.
Counting retirement plans and other investors, a total of $306 billion was invested in target-date funds in the third quarter of 2010, up from $233 billion in the third quarter of 2009, according to the Investment Company Institute, a fund-industry trade group.

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/sc-cons-0331-marksjarvis-20110329,0,6846851,print.column