Stocks rocketed, but bonds were merely ho-hum in November. The Conservative portfolio rose 0.82% for the month. The S&P500 rose 3.78% while the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index rose just 0.44%. Smaller-cap stocks were hot, and tech hotter still – areas safe portfolios are light on. ...read the rest of this article»

The Conservative portfolio fell 1.25% in October as both bonds and stocks were weak. The S&P500 dropped 1.67% while the Lehman Brothers Long Term Treasury Index fell 1.88%. Smaller-cap stocks fared worse, with the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks down 3.1%. ...read the rest of this article»

The Conservative portfolio was essentially flat in September, up just 0.08%. Bonds and stocks flipped once again – bonds fell while stocks went up. ...read the rest of this article»

Junk bonds were the weakest part of the bond market, possibly because investors are starting to fear the solvency of corporate America once again, in light of the financial troubles hitting the airline industry. Some more leveraged companies – beyond just airlines – could have trouble eating the higher costs of energy for long periods of time. ...read the rest of this article»

Junk bonds were strong, even though higher-grade bonds dragged. This can sometimes happen when investors are optimistic about corporate health. Since ordinary bonds slipped, the extra yield from owning higher risk bonds over safer bonds is slimmer than it was a month ago. Vanguard High Yield Corporate was up 0.92% ...read the rest of this article»

The real action here on the upside was our stake in utilities. American Century Utility Income gained 5% last month. Unfortunately we have recently cut this category out of some of our other portfolios, and have sliced the stake down to just 5% here. Since we bought this fund in the depths of the Enron era, this position has climbed 80% - a full 33% in the last twelve months alone. This party has gone on a little too long. ...read the rest of this article»

The Conservative portfolio moved up 0.88% in May because of general strength in bonds and stocks. Our shorter-term bond focus and relatively small equity stake left us behind the market indexes. ...read the rest of this article»

The Conservative portfolio rose .29% in April, reflecting a strong bond market. Our equity funds were down for the month, but strength in larger allocations to bond funds overshadowed the losses. ...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»

We’re happy this portfolio’s performance. Only two of the funds were actually down for the month, Vanguard Short Term Corporate was down .21% - a decent indication of how this fund does when interest rates climb a bit. It would be difficult – if not impossible - to lose more than 10% in a year in this fund no matter what happens to the bond market. ...read the rest of this article»