on 2010/02/01 by Alex, [FAQ]

Question: I agree completely w/ moving funds into cash, as your latest newsletter recommends.  I noticed the hyperlink for cash, and following it, see that “cash” means a money market fund w/ a 2% assumed return.  Where are you banking?  The money market funds are all returning the federal funds rate right now, about 0.1%. [...]

on 2010/01/31 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

Stocks have been sliding relentlessly since January 20. While we are adjusting our position to over 90 percent cash, we do believe that there is still some near-term growth potential for stocks, especially in certain sectors. Real estate, pharmaceuticals, and large-cap stocks look particularly good.

on 2009/12/21 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

Once again, we are continuing to recommend gold because of its longer-term uptrend. The issue with gold is that it’s in a shorter-term pullback. This makes it a relatively risky investment right now. Because of this, in the conservative allocation, we are mostly in cash and bonds.

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 2009/07/27 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

Over the past month, our Conservative allocation has made 6.21%, while our Balanced allocation has made 4.04%. Though over the past week, both allocations have stayed flat. The Conservative allocation was in cash, while the Balanced allocation was in FXE (CurrencyShares Euro Trust), which is flat for the week. This week, we are recommending a [...]

on 2009/07/06 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

We pick the mix of investments that maximizes the expected return while not exceeding a fixed maximum risk. The recommendation we made a week ago of going into cash was prudent, as stocks fell during this past week. For example, the S&P 500 index fell by 3.32%. This week, we are recommending two foreign currency [...]

on 2009/06/29 by Alex, [ETF,Exchange-traded funds]

Both of the funds that we recommended last week have had excellent gains. IBB, a biotech fund, has earned 4.43% in a week. FXI, a fund that tracks the Chinese stock market, has earned 6.35%. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up 2.90%. This week, we are going completely into cash. The coming week [...]