on 2009/08/31 by Alex, [FAQ]

Here is a comprehensive list of all the exchange-traded funds — all 1,500 of them! It’s the most complete list of ETF’s that I’m aware of. The list includes all the popular fund families, such as State Street (SPDR, including SPY, which tracks the well-known S&P 500 index) PowerShares (including QQQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 [...]

on 2009/08/31 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

Retail (XRT), which we recommended a couple of weeks ago, has had excellent gains. For example, our Balanced allocation is up 7.8% in just two weeks. However, as of now, retail appears to be overbought. Of all the funds that we are tracking, the one with the best potential at this point appears to be [...]

on 2009/08/24 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

Both smallcap and retail stocks, which we recommended last week, have had a great few days. IJR (iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index) is up 5.66%, while our retail stocks recommendation is up 5.14%. At this point, we see smallcap as being overbought, and so we are getting out of them. Retail stocks could be close [...]

on 2009/08/19 by Alex, [FAQ,Performance]

Question: Does it really matters if we keep switching between funds if we are dollar-averaging?? My TSP allocation has been 50% C, 25% S and 25%G and the performance shows YTD -10%. Response: I am not sure I understand your question completely. If you switch from funds that are doing poorly to funds that are [...]

on 2009/08/19 by Alex, [Testimonials]

I appreciate your efforts at providing a terrific trading model for the TSP.  I have shared it with my son in the Army. - L.M.

on 2009/08/17 by Alex, [TSP,Thrift Savings Plan]

We are switching to the S Fund (“Extended market”), which tracks midcap and smallcap stocks. Mid and smallcap stocks appear to be recovering faster than the large stocks, which are tracked by the C Fund. This recommendation is consistent with the recommendations we’ve been making in our ETF newsletter. In that newsletter, we’ve been in [...]

on 2009/08/16 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

We are getting out of midcap stocks and getting into smallcap. Though both have had similar performance, we feel that, at this point, smallcap stocks have greater potential. Though neither has moved this past week, they still look strong nonetheless. In addition, we are also recommending retail stocks. Right now, they are a little riskier [...]

on 2009/08/10 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

We are recommending midcap stocks. We see them as being low risk right now, and as having a high return potential. They have been very strong over the past month, easily outperforming the general stock market.

on 2009/08/03 by Alex, [TSP,Thrift Savings Plan]

We pick the mix of investments that maximizes the expected return while not exceeding a fixed maximum risk. In this issue, I wanted to continue recommending the Lifecycle 2010 fund. However, for the benefit of our readers who are not TSP participants, we are instead recommending the equivalent mix of Individual funds.

on 2009/08/03 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

We are recommending value stocks, since they are beginning to take off. Utilities, which have a lower risk right now, are also doing well. That’s why we are recommending a combination of utilities and value stocks in our Conservative allocation.