The Conservative Portfolio dropped -1.05% in October.
Well it couldn’t keep going straight up…After seven months in a row of gains (save for a basically flat June), the S&P 500 took a breather and slipped 1.87% in October. As it turns out, our buys in March were well timed. Too bad we cashed out a little too early on some of the fastest gainers in this rebound.
Broadly speaking, the hottest fund categories since March's slide were down the most in October. The Nasdaq slid 3.64% while small cap stocks dived 6.8%. The Dow managed a slim 0.14% gain.
Longer-term government bonds were down 1.4%. High yield “junk” bonds managed a 1.80% gain, higher than the overall bond market's 0.40% rise. The story in credit is the spread of higher-risk debt over no default risk government debt continued to shrink. With each passing month there becomes less reward for taking on more risk.
Harbor Bond (HABDX) beat the overall bond market with a 0.73% return compared to the 0.40% return for all bonds, which is slightly lower in duration and credit risk. We expect this spread to shrink when Bill Gross cuts back on some credit risk.
September’s big move up turned into a quick move back down for telecom stocks. Vanguard Telecom Service ETF (VOX) slid 6.98% in October.
The music just doesn’t stop in high yield. Metropolitan West High Yield Bond (MWHYX) was up 1.64% in October, one of the few strong areas in funds.
The Aggressive Portfolio dropped -2.43% in October.
Well it couldn’t keep going straight up…After seven months in a row of gains (save for a basically flat June), the S&P 500 took a breather and slipped 1.87% in October. As it turns out, our buys in March were well timed. Too bad we cashed out a little too early on some of the fastest gainers in this rebound.
Broadly speaking, the hottest fund categories since March's slide were down the most in October. The Nasdaq slid 3.64% while small cap stocks dived 6.8%. The Dow managed a slim 0.14% gain.
Longer-term government bonds were down 1.4%. High yield “junk” bonds managed a 1.80% gain, higher than the overall bond market's 0.40% rise. The story in credit is the spread of higher-risk debt over no default risk government debt continued to shrink. With each passing month there becomes less reward for taking on more risk.
Japanese stocks have done well lately, and the Vanguard Pacific Stock ETF (VPL) is up just over 22% since we added it 12 months ago, compared to the 9.78% return in the S&P 500. This return is similar to the outperforming Nasdaq. Last month this ETF fell 3.22%.
Harbor Bond (HABDX) beat the overall bond market with a 0.73% return compared to the 0.40% return for all bonds, which is slightly lower in duration and credit risk. We expect this spread to shrink when Bill Gross cuts back on some credit risk.
Biotech stocks lost some steam fast last month, with the SPDR Biotech (XBI) diving 13.03% in October. So far in November biotech stocks are once again jumping, up about 8%, even more than the market, which is up almost 6% halfway into the month.
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The Conservative Portfolio dropped -1.05% in October.
Well it couldn’t keep going straight up…After seven months in a row of gains (save for a basically flat June), the S&P 500 took a breather and slipped 1.87% in October. As it turns out, our buys in March were well timed. Too bad we cashed out a little too early on some of the fastest gainers in this rebound.
Broadly speaking, the hottest fund categories since March's slide were down the most in October. The Nasdaq slid 3.64% while small cap stocks dived 6.8%. The Dow managed a slim 0.14% gain.
Longer-term government bonds were down 1.4%. High yield “junk” bonds managed a 1.80% gain, higher than the overall bond market's 0.40% rise. The story in credit is the spread of higher-risk debt over no default risk government debt continued to shrink. With each passing month there becomes less reward for taking on more risk.
Harbor Bond (HABDX) beat the overall bond market with a 0.73% return compared to the 0.40% return for all bonds, which is slightly lower in duration and credit risk. We expect this spread to shrink when Bill Gross cuts back on some credit risk.
September’s big move up turned into a quick move back down for telecom stocks. Vanguard Telecom Service ETF (VOX) slid 6.98% in October.
The music just doesn’t stop in high yield. Metropolitan West High Yield Bond (MWHYX) was up 1.64% in October, one of the few strong areas in funds.
The Aggressive Portfolio dropped -2.43% in October.
Well it couldn’t keep going straight up…After seven months in a row of gains (save for a basically flat June), the S&P 500 took a breather and slipped 1.87% in October. As it turns out, our buys in March were well timed. Too bad we cashed out a little too early on some of the fastest gainers in this rebound.
Broadly speaking, the hottest fund categories since March's slide were down the most in October. The Nasdaq slid 3.64% while small cap stocks dived 6.8%. The Dow managed a slim 0.14% gain.
Longer-term government bonds were down 1.4%. High yield “junk” bonds managed a 1.80% gain, higher than the overall bond market's 0.40% rise. The story in credit is the spread of higher-risk debt over no default risk government debt continued to shrink. With each passing month there becomes less reward for taking on more risk.
Japanese stocks have done well lately, and the Vanguard Pacific Stock ETF (VPL) is up just over 22% since we added it 12 months ago, compared to the 9.78% return in the S&P 500. This return is similar to the outperforming Nasdaq. Last month this ETF fell 3.22%.
Harbor Bond (HABDX) beat the overall bond market with a 0.73% return compared to the 0.40% return for all bonds, which is slightly lower in duration and credit risk. We expect this spread to shrink when Bill Gross cuts back on some credit risk.
Biotech stocks lost some steam fast last month, with the SPDR Biotech (XBI) diving 13.03% in October. So far in November biotech stocks are once again jumping, up about 8%, even more than the market, which is up almost 6% halfway into the month.