Powerfund Portfolios Feature Article
We lagged on the way up in March, but we fell far less on the way down. ...read the rest of this article»
| Stock Funds | 1mo % |
|---|---|
| iShares MSCI BRIC Index (BKF) | 13.75% |
| [Benchmark] Vanguard Emerging Mkts Stock Idx (VEIEX) | 13.04% |
| Vanguard Utilities (VPU) | 8.16% |
| iShares MSCI Italy Capped (EWI) | 8.16% |
| Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF (VEA) | 7.19% |
| [Benchmark] Vanguard Tax-Managed Intl Adm (VTMGX) | 7.13% |
| iShares Mortgage REIT (REM) | 7.05% |
| Vanguard European ETF (VGK) | 7.03% |
| [Benchmark] Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX) | 6.78% |
| Vanguard Value (VTV) | 6.71% |
| Homestead Value (HOVLX) | 6.69% |
| Artisan Global Equity (ARTHX) | 6.53% |
| Gold Short (DZZ) | 5.97% |
| Vanguard Telecom Services ETF (VOX) | 5.57% |
| Proshares Ultrashort NASDAQ Biotech (BIS) | -7.87% |
| ETRACS 1xMonthly Short Alerian MLP (MLPS) | -8.59% |
| PowerShares DB Crude Oil Dble Short (DTO) | -14.76% |
| Proshares Ultrashort Russel2000 (TWM) | -15.20% |
| Bond Funds | 1mo % |
|---|---|
| SPDR Barclays Intl. Treasury (BWX) | 4.21% |
| Artisan High Income Fund (ARTFX) | 3.66% |
| Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index ETF (BLV) | 3.23% |
| [Benchmark] Vanguard Total Bond Index (VBMFX) | 0.94% |
| Vanguard Mortgage-Backed Securities (VMBS) | 0.21% |
| Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury (EDV) | -0.20% |
Black Monday For ETFs
August 24th was probably the worst day in the history of exchange-traded funds. While the 1,000 point plus loss in the Dow early on 8/24 gets all the headlines, some large ETFs took a dive, albeit a brief one, that would be the equivalent of a 7,000 plus point loss in the Dow. Yikes. ...read the rest of this article»
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Dr. Frankenstein’s Bond Funds
Investors have been worried about rising interest rates for years. That fear has created a bond market fueled by funds designed to protect investors from the any-day-now-you-just-wait interest rate disaster. Like 1950s-era bomb shelters, these funds are costly protection you don’t need. Ninety-eight percent of all bond money is invested in funds with marginal interest rate risk. Interest rate risk is a phantom menace. ...read the rest of this article»
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The Dangers of Good Performance
Last month our Aggressive Powerfund Portfolio, which debuted on March 31st, 2002, moved past the 300% since-inception return mark (recent weakness in bonds and stocks currently put us just below that level). In the warm glow of the rearview mirror, that 300% (or just over 11% annualized) seems pretty grand. But it’s important to look at what actually happened to generate that return and consider how repeatable it is. “Past performance is no indication of future results” is as true for us as anyone else. ...read the rest of this article»
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Oil’s Well That Ends Well
The primary reason for our trade on 3/13 and 3/16 was to cut back on our oil short, DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (DTO), which has performed very well in the Powerfund Portfolios, even without a collapse in either the global economy or the stock markets. We wanted to get out of utilities and floating rate junk bonds and also to use the recent major slide in the euro to get back into foreign bonds after a long hiatus. We rebalanced the portfolios a little, too. ...read the rest of this article»
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Commodity Collapse
We’ve learned something in 2014. Commodity investing is dead. Long live the information economy. Oh, real assets, we hardly knew ye! ...read the rest of this article»
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Watch Out For Winners and Bill Gross Wannabes
Using past performance to pick your investments doesn’t usually work. You’ve heard this all before. It’s not a guarantee of future returns, yada, yada, yada…But what's a poor investor who still believes in the virtues of good old-fashioned stock and bond picking supposed to do? Choose funds with bad returns? ...read the rest of this article»
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How We Doin' Mini-Crash Edition
Although this latest slide, which started about a month ago in mid-September, isn’t that big of a deal in percentage terms for the U.S. market, both the speed of the drop as well as bigger drops in hot growth stocks are scaring investors lulled into a false sense of security by a market with few down interruptions in recent years. ...read the rest of this article»
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Our Short and Sweet Guide to Interest Rate Armageddon
For some reason, investor fear of rising interest rates gets more press than the brewing tech bubble. Maybe it’s the risk/reward comparison that scares investors. Sure, it won’t be good for Alibaba (BABA) investors coming in at a quarter trillion dollar market cap if earnings growth stagnates, or Netflix (NFLX) investors buying at ~100 P/E ratios, but those companies could have more than the 3-4% annual gain longer-term investment-grade bond buyers can look forward to if things go well. ...read the rest of this article»
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The Powerfund Portfolios posted solid gains in May, with both the Conservative and Aggressive portfolios beating Vanguard's main U.S. stock index and total global fund. As we're taking less risk than these funds it's harder to do this in an up market (as May was), than a down one. ...read the rest of this article»