The conservative portfolio was up just 0.44% in May as bonds fell on rising rates. Stocks were very strong in May with the S&P 500 up almost 3.5%. Vanguard U.S. Value (VUVLX) and Janus Research (JARFX) were up 3.58% and 4.21% respectively, but the hits to bonds funds like Harbor (HABDX) down 1.38% largely wiped out the stock gains. ...read the rest of this article»

The conservative portfolio was up 1.14% in October. While the bond funds did well on generally lower interest rates, the real action was in stocks, particularly larger-caps, internationals, and telecoms. SSgA International Growth Opportunities (SINGX) was up 3.48%, Vanguard U.S. Value up 2.61%, and Vanguard Telecom Services ETF (VOX) was up 3.77%. ...read the rest of this article»

We're keeping our broad bond/stock allocations in our Conservative portfolio to 70% bond and 30% stock (adjusting for a balanced fund). These are tough times for a conservative investor as bond yields are low and value stocks are not cheap anymore – making large allocations to value-oriented stock funds a bit risky. On the plus side, short-term bonds and money market funds finally offer a reasonable yield thanks to recent Federal Reserve rate increases. ...read the rest of this article»

Because of the relative complexity of these trades we have created an easy-to-use trade worksheet that subscribers who invest in the Conservative Portfolio can download, print out, and fill in to help them determine how much of their holdings need to be bought and sold to match our post-trade portfolios and to rebalance. ...read the rest of this article»

Since mostly longer term bonds did well last month, most of our action was in stocks. The Vanguard Short Term Corporate fund, which makes up 30% of the portfolio, was up just .18%. Since every other fund but one beat the S&P500 and Dow, the portfolio scored a good return anyway. The other small gainer was Harbor Bond. ...read the rest of this article»

We’re lowering our risk level slightly by moving some profits into more conservative investments. Stocks (particularly foreign stocks), convertible bonds tied to stocks, and foreign bonds have all risen in the last year. The reward for risk taking will be lower going forward. ...read the rest of this article»

We are lightening up a bit on stocks and increasing our bond positions with shorter maturities and higher credit profiles in each of our model portfolios. These changes lower overall risk and lock in gains made from above-target stock allocations and bond durations over the last year. ...read the rest of this article»

The newly retooled Vanguard Dividend Growth fund (VDIGX) has much lower fees than the Strong Dividend Income Fund "Z" (SDVIX) which means more if the dividend income is yours to keep. Since this model portfolio already owned the Vanguard Utilities Income fund, and that fund has converted into a dividend growth fund, we need to sell our dividend fund and replace it with another utilities fund in order to keep the same allocation to utilities and high dividend stocks. ...read the rest of this article»

Vanguard High Yield Fund (VWEHX) with proceeds of CMHYX sale.</ul> Columbia funds, which show up in three of our model portfolios because of their high quality and low fees, where snapped up by Liberty, who has been on a fund purchasing binge for some time now. Liberty is merging some of their unbelievably crummy funds into some good Columbia funds to hide the Liberty fund's miserable performance. ...read the rest of this article»

We feel the current yield on beaten down utilities stocks of just under 5% is too tempting to pass up. Since money market funds yield less than 2% across the board, often closer to 1%, this should benefit the portfolios over the long term. ...read the rest of this article»