BuckeyeT glad to see you back! Those who don't like Bush complain that the 18% growth in the Dow over the last 6 years is not impressive, that putting Euros under your mattress would have been a better strategy. They don't like to aknowledge the effect that 9-11 had on the stock market though.
Investing in the market might have helped Social Security too. But I'm sure that the new party in charge has some great ideas about getting it fixed. Of course that's not until the committee hearings on firing Federal Attys., the Pat Tillman death, etc.
The party "in charge" has no ideas. That's why they fill their time with witch hunts and surrender speeches.
Have not heard from the naysayers in a while.......do you think they are watching? This is a helluva run....alot of liquidity driving alot of buying. Deals, deals and more deals. I'd like to see a little breather here before we get too far ahead of ourselves. For those of you that have not done so in a while, now is a good time to take a look at your portfolio and rebalance if necessary. With the S&P500 up 20% or so year over year, many portfolios have become stock heavy and risk exposure/asset allocations have gotten out of whack - I know that mine has. A wise man once told me that you can never go broke by taking a gain..... 8)
Don't get me wrong Phantom....I, in no way, suggest that one should cash out of stocks, quite to the contrary. I always have the majority of my portfolio allocated to stocks. My point is that if one has a target equity exposure of 60% of total portfolio for example and the stock component has risen due to market appreciation to 70%, I'm taking 10% off the table and allocating that to another asset class.....I too will continue to "let it ride", but I'm gonna ride with the "house money" and keep more of my ammo ready to buy not if and but when we have a "stock sale"!
Buck T, I agree. I actually rebalanced last week for the second time in two months. The first time I moved more money into foreign stocks, especially China when it was down. (That was a good move!) The second time was last week, moving a little more into cash... BTW- I have an individual stock that's up 68% since Christmas. Ever heard of ANST? I'm having a nice ride with that one and I have no inclination to sell it. Its still very small. Anyone heard anything about it? I hate surprises...
Well done Phantom....I suggest some international exposure is a must for any well diversified portfolio....empirical studies has shown that portfolios with some foregin exposure generate equal or superior returns with less volatility/risk than those without....my own personal target is 10-15% of assets. I'm not familiar with ANST, but it looks like you've had a helluva ride!
Krebsie, there are several good ones from which to choose...T.Rowe Price - a great firm with whom I've been invested with for decades - offers an International Stock fund and an International Equity Index fund - both of which would be fine choices. Better yet from a tax management standpoint are ETFs....the one with which I'm most familiar is the MSCI EAFE index - stands for Europe, Asia and Far East - traded under the symbol EFA is a large cap international equity index fund and it represents my core international holding...
My money in foreign stocks is in two places: Fidelity Diversified International Fund (FDIVX) This is a 5-star rated mutual fund (Morningside) Its been moving up at a 45 degree angle for years. Powershares Golden Dragon ETF (PGJ) This is where I moved some money into Chinese stocks a few weeks ago and I'm very happy with it so far. Its a pure China play. Disclaimer: remember that I'm not an investment guru. I'm a friggen school teacher...
Nonsense. I'm your tax dollars at work. Actually, I'm BDR's tax dollars at work. He lives here in California. My money is in retirement accounts; but why retire when taxpayers are so generous?