We made some changes to both our model portfolios on Friday 2/28/20. And while there where quite a few trades, the overall risk level from the stock bond mix hasn’t really changed significantly, more so we changed the types of stocks and bonds we wanted to be in going forward in light of some recent swings. As it turned out though, it’s a pity we didn’t increase the stock allocation much because as of Monday the stock market has been staging an amazing rebound (or dead cat bounce… only time will tell!). But then it’s typical that the highest point gain ever should come after the fastest 10% drop from a peak. Tuesday is showing markets back in the red as an emergency rate cut isn’t working. It’s that kind of a market now… ...read the rest of this article»

It was a rough-and-tumble 2015 - a year in which most funds fell. Very few total portfolios of bonds and stocks posted gains in 2015. We've made some changes to keep portfolio downside risk low for the time being, and we're taking some winnings off ...read the rest of this article»

We're throwing open the windows, sweeping the floors, and tidying up both Powerfund portfolios with big spring cleaning trades in each. We're cutting back on a speculative short fund that's produced some of our biggest gains ever. We're waving goodbye to a fund we've held twice since 2003. And we're saying hello to a brand new position in an international bond fund of mystery - a fund category we ditched years ago when the Euro was riding high. Read all about it by clicking here. ...read the rest of this article»

Today we sold our two PIMCO funds in our Conservative portfolio (and the majority of our PIMCO fund holdings in our client accounts) and moved into Vanguard Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF (VMBS). ...read the rest of this article»

We executed a trade in both the Conservative and Aggressive Powerfund Portfolios on August 15th, 2013.  ...read the rest of this article»

We’ve executed a trade in both the Conservative and the Aggressive Powerfund Portfolios today, September 19th 2011. The main goal is a small increase in stock fund allocation by 5% for the aggressive portfolio and 1% for the conservative portfolio because stocks, while riskier, are more attractively priced than bonds after the slide in stocks this year. More important to our methodology, fund investors are taking money out of stocks and going into bonds at elevated levels.  ...read the rest of this article»

We're making trades in both the Conservative and Aggressive Powerfund Portfolios, effective June 30th, 2010. ...read the rest of this article»

In recent commentary we noted pending trades to move us away from higher risk, cyclical bond and stock categories and towards lower default risk bonds and less cyclical stock fund categories. We want to be in fund categories that other investors are avoiding. During the last hurrah of this market comeback, investors are piling back into foreign markets, junk bonds, small cap, natural resource and commodities, and the like. ...read the rest of this article»

Our roughly 60% return in four months (double the overall market) in the Financials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) marks a good exit point from financial services stocks. While financial stocks may have more upside, the bargains are gone and we don’t expect the sector to outperform the market going forward - the main reason to own a sector fund in the first place. For the time being we are increasing our bond allocation even though bonds are not screaming buys at current yields. We think we may see some more interesting stock fund opportunities in coming months. ...read the rest of this article»

We are making trades in six of seven Powerfund Portfolios. Broadly speaking these trades are: 1) to remove some closed end funds that are no longer a bargain because the discounts have gone away 2) to lock in large gains from shorting commodities 3) to increase our stock allocations slightly. ...read the rest of this article»