Bonds took another dive in April – a move that appears to be continuing into May. Long term U.S. government treasury bonds – the most interest sensitive bonds – fell nearly 2% in April, after a 3% drop in March. Bonds are down just over 5% for the year, and now have a three year average return below 3% (or only slightly above what you would have received in a good money market fund over the same period). If this keeps up, we’ll sell some of our shorter term bond funds (which haven’t slipped as much this year as they are not as sensitive to rising rates) and move into longer term bonds. A more diversified portfolio of bonds – like the Vanguard Total Bond Index, was down just .21% in April. Our own short term bond funds, like Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, were actually up slightly in April.
In April, stocks continued to gain, despite rising interest rates, commodities, and general inflation fears. The S&P500 was up 1.3% last month, while the Dow climbed 2.48% - inching ever closer to the all time high hit in early 2000. April was a good month for safer mega-cap stocks, and international markets continued to charge ahead. Tech and growth stocks didn't fare as well, as the NASDAQ slid near 1%. Small cap stocks were essentially flat after a strong start to the year.
Our Conservative portfolio was up .49% in April. Not too shabby during another tough month for bonds.
This month Harbor Bond (HABDX) was flat – up just .09% - as strength in foreign bonds and certain corporate bonds offset losses in longer term government debt. As noted, Harbor Bond manager Bill Gross has moved more into longer term bonds, apparently confident the economy is on the brink of slipping (which could lead to lower interest rates).
Short term bonds prices didn’t change much as interest rate increases mostly targeted longer term rates – a slight steepening of the curve. The .35% uptick last month in our Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade (VFSTX) holding was mostly yield from the bonds, offset by a slight decline in bond prices. This fund now yields about 4.91%.
The real action here was in foreign bonds, which recently started back on the accent as the U.S. dollar resumed its decline against most foreign currencies. While interest rates have been climbing, hurting bond prices, the decline in the dollar (which makes foreign bonds more valuable in U.S. dollars) more than offset the rate move. American Century International Bond was up 2.85% for the month.
International stocks continued to lead the U.S by a wide margin, due to massive inflows of U.S. investor money no doubt. SSgA International Growth (SINGX) was up a solid 4.62% for the month, and the 34.78% one year return easily outpaces the S&P500.
The big move in telecom stocks this year stalled last month as rising interest rates made the high dividends of telecom stocks less compelling and raised concerns over highly leveraged telecom company's debt costs. Vanguard Telecom VIPER was basically flat for the month.
Healthcare had a rough month compared to most stocks. In fact, healthcare funds were the worst performing fund category - followed closely by real estate funds which were hit from the negative implications of rising rates. HealthCare Select SPDR (XLV) fell 3.46% in April. If this downward trend for healthcare continues while other stocks get more expensive, we’ll consider increasing our exposure.
Bonds took another dive in April – a move that appears to be continuing into May. Long term U.S. government treasury bonds – the most interest sensitive bonds – fell nearly 2% in April, after a 3% drop in March. Bonds are down just over 5% for the year, and now have a three year average return below 3% (or only slightly above what you would have received in a good money market fund over the same period). If this keeps up, we’ll sell some of our shorter term bond funds (which haven’t slipped as much this year as they are not as sensitive to rising rates) and move into longer term bonds. A more diversified portfolio of bonds – like the Vanguard Total Bond Index, was down just .21% in April. Our own short term bond funds, like Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, were actually up slightly in April.
In April, stocks continued to gain, despite rising interest rates, commodities, and general inflation fears. The S&P500 was up 1.3% last month, while the Dow climbed 2.48% - inching ever closer to the all time high hit in early 2000. April was a good month for safer mega-cap stocks, and international markets continued to charge ahead. Tech and growth stocks didn't fare as well, as the NASDAQ slid near 1%. Small cap stocks were essentially flat after a strong start to the year.
Our Aggressive Growth portfolio was up .76% in April reflecting the weakness in tech and healthcare.
Mega cap stocks were strong in April, leading to a 1.66% gain in Bridgeway Blue Chip 35 (BRLIX).
Short term bonds prices didn’t change much as interest rate increases mostly targeted longer term rates – a slight steepening of the curve. The .35% uptick last month in our Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade (VFSTX) holding was mostly yield from the bonds, offset by a slight decline in bond prices. This fund now yields about 4.91%.
International stocks continued to lead the U.S by a wide margin, due to massive inflows of U.S. investor money no doubt. While our other international funds scored roughly 5% moves up, Artisan International Small Cap (ARTJX) jumped 6.38% in April and is now up just over 200% since we added it to the portfolio. This international small cap action can’t go on and we may dump our remaining stake soon.
The big move in telecom stocks this year stalled last month as rising interest rates made the high dividends of telecom stocks less compelling and raised concerns over highly leveraged telecom company’s debt costs. Vanguard Telecom VIPER was basically flat for the month.
Healthcare had a rough month compared to most stocks – in fact healthcare funds were the worst performing fund category, followed closely by real estate funds (which were hit from the negative implications of rising rates). HealthCare Select SPDR (XLV) fell 3.46% in April. If this downward trend for healthcare continues while other stocks get more expensive we’d consider increasing our exposure.
Larger cap technology stocks were down on weakness in Microsoft, Intel, and Dell – the three musketeers of tech. All three are currently priced very reasonably compared to the rest of the global stock market. Technology SPDR (XLK), our tech ETF, was down 1.29% in April.
This month Harbor Bond (HABDX) was flat – up just .09% - as strength in foreign bonds and certain corporate bonds offset losses in longer term government debt. As noted, Harbor Bond manager Bill Gross has moved more into longer term bonds, apparently confident the economy is on the brink of slipping (which could lead to lower interest rates).
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Bonds took another dive in April – a move that appears to be continuing into May. Long term U.S. government treasury bonds – the most interest sensitive bonds – fell nearly 2% in April, after a 3% drop in March. Bonds are down just over 5% for the year, and now have a three year average return below 3% (or only slightly above what you would have received in a good money market fund over the same period). If this keeps up, we’ll sell some of our shorter term bond funds (which haven’t slipped as much this year as they are not as sensitive to rising rates) and move into longer term bonds. A more diversified portfolio of bonds – like the Vanguard Total Bond Index, was down just .21% in April. Our own short term bond funds, like Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, were actually up slightly in April.
In April, stocks continued to gain, despite rising interest rates, commodities, and general inflation fears. The S&P500 was up 1.3% last month, while the Dow climbed 2.48% - inching ever closer to the all time high hit in early 2000. April was a good month for safer mega-cap stocks, and international markets continued to charge ahead. Tech and growth stocks didn't fare as well, as the NASDAQ slid near 1%. Small cap stocks were essentially flat after a strong start to the year.
Our Conservative portfolio was up .49% in April. Not too shabby during another tough month for bonds.
This month Harbor Bond (HABDX) was flat – up just .09% - as strength in foreign bonds and certain corporate bonds offset losses in longer term government debt. As noted, Harbor Bond manager Bill Gross has moved more into longer term bonds, apparently confident the economy is on the brink of slipping (which could lead to lower interest rates).
Short term bonds prices didn’t change much as interest rate increases mostly targeted longer term rates – a slight steepening of the curve. The .35% uptick last month in our Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade (VFSTX) holding was mostly yield from the bonds, offset by a slight decline in bond prices. This fund now yields about 4.91%.
The real action here was in foreign bonds, which recently started back on the accent as the U.S. dollar resumed its decline against most foreign currencies. While interest rates have been climbing, hurting bond prices, the decline in the dollar (which makes foreign bonds more valuable in U.S. dollars) more than offset the rate move. American Century International Bond was up 2.85% for the month.
International stocks continued to lead the U.S by a wide margin, due to massive inflows of U.S. investor money no doubt. SSgA International Growth (SINGX) was up a solid 4.62% for the month, and the 34.78% one year return easily outpaces the S&P500.
The big move in telecom stocks this year stalled last month as rising interest rates made the high dividends of telecom stocks less compelling and raised concerns over highly leveraged telecom company's debt costs. Vanguard Telecom VIPER was basically flat for the month.
Healthcare had a rough month compared to most stocks. In fact, healthcare funds were the worst performing fund category - followed closely by real estate funds which were hit from the negative implications of rising rates. HealthCare Select SPDR (XLV) fell 3.46% in April. If this downward trend for healthcare continues while other stocks get more expensive, we’ll consider increasing our exposure.
Bonds took another dive in April – a move that appears to be continuing into May. Long term U.S. government treasury bonds – the most interest sensitive bonds – fell nearly 2% in April, after a 3% drop in March. Bonds are down just over 5% for the year, and now have a three year average return below 3% (or only slightly above what you would have received in a good money market fund over the same period). If this keeps up, we’ll sell some of our shorter term bond funds (which haven’t slipped as much this year as they are not as sensitive to rising rates) and move into longer term bonds. A more diversified portfolio of bonds – like the Vanguard Total Bond Index, was down just .21% in April. Our own short term bond funds, like Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, were actually up slightly in April.
In April, stocks continued to gain, despite rising interest rates, commodities, and general inflation fears. The S&P500 was up 1.3% last month, while the Dow climbed 2.48% - inching ever closer to the all time high hit in early 2000. April was a good month for safer mega-cap stocks, and international markets continued to charge ahead. Tech and growth stocks didn't fare as well, as the NASDAQ slid near 1%. Small cap stocks were essentially flat after a strong start to the year.
Our Aggressive Growth portfolio was up .76% in April reflecting the weakness in tech and healthcare.
Mega cap stocks were strong in April, leading to a 1.66% gain in Bridgeway Blue Chip 35 (BRLIX).
Short term bonds prices didn’t change much as interest rate increases mostly targeted longer term rates – a slight steepening of the curve. The .35% uptick last month in our Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade (VFSTX) holding was mostly yield from the bonds, offset by a slight decline in bond prices. This fund now yields about 4.91%.
International stocks continued to lead the U.S by a wide margin, due to massive inflows of U.S. investor money no doubt. While our other international funds scored roughly 5% moves up, Artisan International Small Cap (ARTJX) jumped 6.38% in April and is now up just over 200% since we added it to the portfolio. This international small cap action can’t go on and we may dump our remaining stake soon.
The big move in telecom stocks this year stalled last month as rising interest rates made the high dividends of telecom stocks less compelling and raised concerns over highly leveraged telecom company’s debt costs. Vanguard Telecom VIPER was basically flat for the month.
Healthcare had a rough month compared to most stocks – in fact healthcare funds were the worst performing fund category, followed closely by real estate funds (which were hit from the negative implications of rising rates). HealthCare Select SPDR (XLV) fell 3.46% in April. If this downward trend for healthcare continues while other stocks get more expensive we’d consider increasing our exposure.
Larger cap technology stocks were down on weakness in Microsoft, Intel, and Dell – the three musketeers of tech. All three are currently priced very reasonably compared to the rest of the global stock market. Technology SPDR (XLK), our tech ETF, was down 1.29% in April.
This month Harbor Bond (HABDX) was flat – up just .09% - as strength in foreign bonds and certain corporate bonds offset losses in longer term government debt. As noted, Harbor Bond manager Bill Gross has moved more into longer term bonds, apparently confident the economy is on the brink of slipping (which could lead to lower interest rates).