A reader pointed to the quarterly letter (PDF file) by Jeremy Grantham titled “The Last Hurrah and Seven Lean Years.” While the entire report is simply superb, I want to focus on two sections, namely “Seven Lean Years” and “The VL Recovery.” Let’s look at some highlights of the former first: Probably the single biggest drag on the economy over …
No Load Fund/ETF Tracker updated through 5/21/2009
My latest No Load Fund/ETF Tracker has been posted at:http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.phpAimless meandering kept the major indexes close to the unchanged line. Our Trend Tracking Index (TTI) for domestic funds/ETFs remains below its trend line (red) by -1.33% thereby confirming the current bear market trend. The international index has now broken above its long-term trend line by +4.96%. A Buy signal was …
Breathing On The Trend Line
Yesterday’s rally out of the starting blocks fizzled slowly, and all 3 major indexes lost moderately. Causing this retreat was the release of the minutes from a late April Fed meeting showing that the members see signs of stability, but threats remain and any recovery is unlikely to be quick. The economy is now expected to shrink between 1.3% and …
Not Getting It
In regards to my recent post “More On Risk Control,” one reader had this to say: With only a cursory review of your market timing/trend following investment approach, I find it to be quite conservative. If I remember correctly, some time early this year, your market timing index was waiting for a 20+% increase before getting back into the market. …
Back To Higher Ground
Hope and optimism that the economy may have bottomed were pushed to the front burner again, and all major indexes gained solidly to start the week out on a positive note. Lowe’s better than expected first quarter results provided the fuel for the rally, which was followed by improved homebuilder confidence as well as an upgrade of the financial sector. …
More On Risk Control
Saturday’s post “Buyer Beware of Risk control” elicited a number of reader comments. Here’s one I want to elaborate on: In your post, “Buyer Beware Of Risk Control,” you highlighted the statement, “It does not really matter how much of a return you make during good times, what matters is how much you keep when the markets turn south.” I …