SMI Visitor's Blog       

Welcome to the SMI Visitor's Blog where you'll find selected excerpts from our Member's Blog, plus occasional posts created especially for our visitors.

For SMI Web Members, click here to go to the SMI Member Blog.

« Blog Home

Random new issue notes

A couple of quick follow-up notes to the new February issue just released:

• In the Level 4 report card, I mentioned the $700 million government TARP program. Must have been subconscious wishful thinking. That number should be $700 billion. We've corrected it online, but alas, 'tis too late to correct in the print version. I've already received 20 lashes with a wet noodle, with the other 20 to be administered after this blog post is complete.
• In Austin's editorial, he mentions that he has shifted the Upgrading portion of his portfolio exclusively to SMIFX for 2009, after using SMIVX for two-thirds of his Upgrading money last year.

  That may surprise some people (even though he notes it's an aggressive posture and that continuing with SMIVX is a more conservative approach). This is a great example of us offering what we're doing as an example, but we're definitely not trying to imply that readers should rush out and copy our exact approach. Austin's situation may be quite different than yours, as he's already 20% in bonds, with another 20% that can be out of the market entirely at any point (his market timing slice). He's clearly playing this Upgrading piece as aggressively as possible, but recognize that move is in the context of having as much as 40% of his portfolio deployed with very low risk.

  For a dose of contrast, my 2009 portfolio is 100% in equities (due to my younger age), so my overall stock/bond allocation is more aggressive than Austin's. (Remember, that's your most important investing decision - the one that will likely have a bigger impact on your eventual returns than any other.) I also have quite a bit more allocated to aggressive advanced strategies (Sector Rotation and a new idea we're working on) than Austin does. But with the roughly 70% of my portfolio that's devoted to Upgrading, I've still got nearly half of that in SMIVX. So I'm being more conservative with that particular piece, while being more aggressive with my portfolio as a whole.

  For those trying to decipher all this SMIFX vs. SMIVX talk, it basically breaks down this way. Your most aggressive posture would be 100% SMIFX (pure Upgrading). Your most conservative posture would be 100% SMIVX (hedged upgrading). And of course, the two can be combined in any measure between those extremes.

  I plan to reduce my VX holdings and increase my FX holdings when the All-Clear signal is given. But for now, I'm perfectly willing to give up a little upside potential in order to gain some downside protection in SMIVX. Likewise, if you're using the SMI Funds for part or all of your Upgrading money, you should feel comfortable adjusting the mix to your particular comfort level.

Powered by Movable Type  |   Subscribe  |   Email Updates