Re-balance Cycle Reminder All MyPlanIQ’s newsletters are archived here.
Regular AAC (Asset Allocation Composite), SAA and TAA portfolios are always rebalanced on the first trading day of a month. the next re-balance will be on Tuesday June 1, 2021.
As a reminder to expert users: advanced portfolios are still re-balanced based on their original re-balance schedules and they are not the same as those used in Strategic and Tactical Asset Allocation (SAA and TAA) portfolios of a plan.
Newsletter Collection Update
Latest update on 5/24/2021
Highlighted are the recent articles.
The most recent significant updates are a series of articles on our new Asset Allocation Composite strategy based portfolios. As we are making efforts to improve the quality of our portfolios and ease of use, we ask readers to pay special attention to these articles.
We have published numerous newsletters over the years and many readers have asked us to categorize and summarize our previous newsletters as they tend to cover various topics. We believe this is a good idea as many of them provide useful information that can be useful for both new and old users. We highly encourage users to read these newsletters as understanding many issues and our methodology is an inherent part of using our service. In the following, we select and list some newsletters in each category.
Portfolio Management
Asset Allocation and Other Investment Strategies
Asset Allocation Composite:
- November 18, 2019: Introducing MyPlanIQ Asset Allocation Composite Strategy
- November 11, 2019: Market Indicator And Momentum
- May 6, 2019: Global Allocation Revisited
Strategic:
- January 18, 2016: Strategic Asset Allocation: A Cautious Outlook
- December 7, 2015: Diversification And Global Allocation
- July 6, 2015: Fixed Income Total Return Bond Funds In Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolios
- October 20, 2014: Strategic Portfolios With Managed Volatility
- May 19, 2014: Consistency, The Most Important Edge In Investing: Strategic Case
- July 29, 2013: Strategic Asset Allocation: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
- October 1, 2012: Strategic Asset Allocation Optimized
Tactical
- March 29, 2021: International Stocks vs. US Stocks
- April 20, 2020: Multi-Factor ETFs and Rotation
- February 25, 2019: ‘Bad’ Tactical Strategy
- April 30, 2018: Momentum Investing Review
- January 16, 2017: Long Term Trend Following Portfolio Review
- March 14, 2016: Are Tactical And Timing Strategies Losing Steam?
- January 11, 2016: Review Of Trend Following Tactical Asset Allocation
- February 23, 2015: Why Is Global Tactical Asset Allocation Not Popular?
- January 12, 2015: How Does Trend Following Tactical Asset Allocation Strategy Deliver Returns
- August 18, 2014: Consistency, The Most Important Edge In Investing: Tactical Case
- July 22, 2013: Tactical Asset Allocation: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Asset Behavior
- February 22, 2021: Rising Bond Yields And Current Stock Trends
- February 1, 2021: REITs And Major Asset Trends
- December 7, 2020: A Really Long Term (30 Years) Stock Returns
- October 19, 2020: REIT Indexes As Businesses
- October 12, 2020: Stock Indexes As Businesses
- September 21, 2020: Boring Utility Stocks Are Excellent Long Term Winners
- September 14, 2020: Surprised, Active Fixed Income Investors Have Done Better Than Stock Investors For The Last 20 Years!
- August 10, 2020: Fixed Income In A Speculative Era
- July 20, 2020: Divergence Between Value And Growth Stocks Everywhere
- July 1, 2019: Utilities Sector Review
- April 1, 2019: S&P 500 As A Business
- March 25, 2019: Health Care Sector Review
- March 11, 2019: Consumer Staples Sector Review
- December 10, 2018: How Defensive Are REITs?
- November 19, 2018: Is The Recent Downtrend Sustainable?
- September 10, 2018: Value, Growth And Blend Stock Style Investing
- July 2, 2018: Small Cap Stocks For The Long Term
- May 21, 2018: Rising Rates, Consumer Staples And Stock Index
- April 23, 2018: Commodities In Current Environment
- April 2, 2018: Inside Of The Stock Chaos
- October 30, 2017: Rising Interest Rates
- October 16, 2017: REITs As An Asset Class
- September 11, 2017: International Diversification Effect
- July 31, 2017: Asset Classes And Fund Choices: A Primer
- July 17, 2017: Long Term Stock Holding Periods For Retirement
- May 29, 2017: Alternative Assets And Their Role In Portfolios
- April 17, 2017: Risk vs. Volatility: Long Term Stock Market Returns
- March 6, 2017: Asset Classes for Retirement Investments
- October 31, 2016: Economy Power And Long Term Stock Returns
- October 24, 2016: Current Commodity Trend And Managed Futures
- March 21, 2016: Small And Large Company Stock Performance In Different Economic Expansion Cycles // when small cap stocks underperform for a while, it usually signals trouble ahead for stock markets.
- December 14, 2015: High Yield Bonds And Their Correlation With Stocks
- October 12, 2015: What About Commodities?
- June 22, 2015: Secular Asset Trends
- May 26, 2015: Cash, Bonds and Stocks In A Rising Rate Environment
- May 11, 2015: Pain in Fixed Income?
- May 4, 2015: The Balanced Stock and Long Term Treasury Bond Portfolios
- April 27, 2015: Long Term Treasury Bond Behavior
- April 6, 2015: The Low Return Environment
Strategic and Timing
- April 6, 2020: Long Term Stock Market Timing Since 1871 Revisited
- February 24, 2020: Long Term Stock Valuation Based Investment Strategies
- December 9, 2019: Portfolio Constructions For Advanced Users
- May 22, 2017: Summer Seasonality And Portfolio Management
- May 8, 2017: Holding Period of Long Term Timing Portfolios
- April 24, 2017: The Long Term Stock Market Timing Return Since 1871
- February 20, 2017: Long Term Stock Timing Based Portfolios And Their Roles
- May 9, 2016: Boost Your Dull Summer Investments // yet another effective ‘smart cash’ demonstration used in a timing strategy
- September 28, 2015: Risk Managed Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolios Revisited
- June 10, 2013: Risk Managed Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolios
Fund Selection
- August 6, 2018: Fidelity Zero-Fee Index Funds
- December 12, 2016: Enhanced Index Funds
- May 2, 2016: Low Cost Index Fund Investing // we discuss low index funds and in general indexing approach.
- October 15, 2012: Performance From Asset Allocation And Fund Selection
Core Satellite and Multiple Strategies
- June 15, 2020: Advanced Minimum Equity Portfolios
- June 1, 2020: Minimum Equity Portfolios
- May 18, 2020: Core Satellite Portfolios In The Current Pandemic
- July 22, 2019: Core Satellite Portfolios Balance Fluctuation
- December 3, 2018: Conservative Core Satellite Portfolio
- February 26, 2018: Pros And Cons of Strategic And Tactical Portfolios In 2018
- September 4, 2017: Invest And Speculate Revisited
- April 11, 2016: Construction of Sound And Conservative Portfolios // we propose a way to construct sound conservative portfolios that can be as good as the best conservative allocation funds.
- November 30, 2015: Investors and Speculators Combined
- October 5, 2015: Core Satellite Portfolios In A 401k Account
- September 14, 2015: Core Satellite Portfolios In Market Turmoil
- April 13, 2015: Total Return Bond Funds As Smart Cash
- September 15, 2014: Equity And Total Return Bond Fund Composite Portfolios
- February 3, 2014: Alternative Investment Funds & Diversified Portfolios
- December 2, 2013: Versatile Multiple Portfolio Construction
- July 15, 2013: Portfolio of Portfolios & Core Satellite Portfolios
- November 12, 2012: Multiple Portfolios As Another Diversification Dimension
Momentum Strategies and their behavior. How various asset allocation strategies work in different market cycles
- June 29, 2020: Industry Sector ETF Rotation With Composite Momentum
- June 22, 2020: Industry Sector Rotation With Composite Momentum
- August 20, 2018: How Momentum Investing Stacks Up?
- June 12, 2017: A Mixed Bag Performance of Momentum Investing
- July 27, 2015: Performance Dispersion Among Momentum Based Portfolios
- August 11, 2014: What To Do In Overvalued Stock Markets
- July 7, 2014: Portfolio Behavior During Market Corrections
- November 11, 2013: Tactical Asset Allocation In Overvalued Stock Markets
- November 4, 2013: Wisdom from a Long Time Practitioner Using Multi-Asset Relative Strength/Momentum
- October 28, 2013: What Can We Learn From The 1987 Stock Market Crash?
- April 1, 2013: Momentum Over Stocks, Sector And Style Funds
- September 10, 2012: Taxonomy Of Momentum, Relative Strength And Trend Following
- July 16, 2012: Understand The Behavior of Investment Strategies
- December 10, 2012: How Asset Allocation Strategies Performed In Secular Market Trends
- October 8, 2012: Asset Allocation Strategies Have Cycles Too
Strategy and Portfolio Evaluation
- January 25, 2021: Industry ETFs And ARK ETFs Portfolios
- December 14, 2020: Style and Factor ETFs Portfolio Reviews
- November 30, 2020: Higher Return Portfolios: Part 2
- November 16, 2020: Higher Return Portfolios
- July 30, 2018: Tax Efficient Portfolios
- June 18, 2018: The ‘Best’ Balanced Portfolio Continues To Excel
- June 11, 2018: Is 10 Year Long Enough For Portfolio Comparison?
- October 9, 2017: Conservative Portfolios Revisited
- September 18, 2017: Conservative Portfolios Review
- June 26, 2017: How To Beat The Best Balanced Allocation Fund
- May 1, 2017: Debate on Risk vs. Volatility
- July 20, 2015: Global Balanced Portfolio Benchmarks
- December 1, 2014: Two Key Issues of Investment Strategies
- March 11, 2013: How To Evaluate Investing Strategies
- October 29, 2012: Sharpe, Maximum Draw Down And Sortino Ratios
Risk Parity, Four Pillar and Permanent Portfolios
More newsletters can be found in these articles:
- May 30, 2016: Swensen Portfolio And Permanent Portfolios //Swensen’s portfolio construction principle is very much aligned with the permanent portfolio’s. One can construct these portfolios of various risk levels using the same principle.
- January 25, 2016: Alternative Portfolios Review
- November 16, 2015: Permanent, Risk Parity And Alternative Portfolios Review
- July 21, 2014: Permanent Portfolios & Four Pillar Foundation Based Framework
- February 25, 2013: Risk Parity All Weather & Permanent Portfolio Review
- August 6, 2012: Four Pillar Foundation Based Portfolio Review
Portfolio Rebalance & Daily Management
- December 16, 2019: Q&As On Our Services
- October 7, 2019: Zero Commission Era Has Arrived, Is It Really That Good?
- July 8, 2019: Surprise! Brokerages Make Most From Your Cash, Not Commissions
- June 4, 2018: Action Plan: Risk Review For Investments
- June 5, 2017: How To Start A New Portfolio
- February 29, 2016: Smart Strategic Asset Allocation Rebalance When Market Trend Changes
- August 17, 2015: ETF or Mutual Fund Based Portfolios
- September 7, 2015: Market Rout Creates An Opportunity to Reposition Your Portfolios
- June 29, 2015: Core ETF Commission Free Portfolios
- March 30, 2015: Brokerage Specific Core Mutual Fund Portfolios 2
- March 16, 2015: Brokerage Specific Core Mutual Fund Portfolios
- December 8, 2014: Implementing Core Asset Portfolios In a Brokerage
- June 2, 2014: Tips On Portfolio Rebalance
- May 12, 2014: How To Handle An Elevated Overvalued Market
- March 24, 2014: Time Diversification In Portfolio Rebalance
Risk Management & Investor Behavior
Portfolio risk management techniques and issues.
- May 3, 2021: Inflation, Sub Zero Interest Rate …
- August 3, 2020: Sound Investment Strategies
- May 4, 2020: The Real, Sensible And Wise Warren Buffett
- March 23, 2020: Chaos And Hope
- March 16, 2020: A Live Lesson
- March 9, 2020: Risk And Reward
- March 2, 2020: The Risk Of Coronavirus Outbreak
- March 4, 2019: Global Stock Valuation Update
- December 18, 2017: Record Highs And Risk
- August 21, 2017: Portfolio Performance: A Walk In The Past
- September 21, 2015: Quest For The Best Investment Strategy
- March 23, 2015: Investment Arithmetic for Long Term Investments
- February 2, 2015: Risk Management Everywhere
- January 5, 2015: When Forecast Fails
- December 22, 2014: Long Term Asset Returns: How Long Is Long?
- October 27, 2014: Investment Loss, Mistakes And Market Cycles
- August 25, 2014: Remember Risk
- July 28, 2014: Stock Musings
- June 9, 2014: The Arithmetic of Investment Mistakes
- December 9, 2013: What Is Long Term Investing?
- August 26, 2013: Risk Management: Implementation Risk
- August 19, 2013: Risk Management: Upside Risk
- August 12, 2013: Risk Management: Downside Risk
- September 17, 2012: 8 Harmful Behaviors For Your Portfolios
- March 4, 2013: Systematic Investing vs. Market Noises
- July 23, 2012: The Difference Between Investment Loss & Investment Mistakes
Investment Philosophy
- January 4, 2021: Our Investment Philosophy For 2021 And Beyond
- November 2, 2020: Polls Are Useless vs. This Investment Strategy Doesn’t Work!
- January 13, 2020: Portfolio Performance: A Walk In The Past II
- August 5, 2019: Long Term Investment Strategies And Short Term Market Noises
- June 3, 2019: What We Can Learn From The Seasonality Strategy
- March 18, 2019: The Risk Of Stock Investing
- November 5, 2018: The ‘Right’ Or ‘Wrong’ Decision
- June 25, 2018: What Can We Learn From GE’s Removal From Dow Jones Index?
- March 5, 2018: Warren Buffett’s Advices
- February 5, 2018: Market Selloff And Long Term Investing
- August 7, 2017: I Didn’t Learn Anything — Mistake vs. Temporary Underperformance
- October 17, 2016: Investment Mistakes And Good Or Bad Investment Strategies
- September 1, 2014: Risk & Diversification: Mint.com Interview
- June 16, 2014: There Are Always Lottery Winners
- January 20, 2014: Become an Enlightened Investor
Fixed Income, Dividend, Total Return Bond Funds & Conservative Allocation
The following newsletters address many concerns for retiree, conservative and income investors.
- February 8, 2021: Total Return Bond ETFs Review
- August 31, 2020: Investing In An Ultra-Low Return Environment
- July 27, 2020: Total Return Bond Funds Update
- July 6, 2020: Bond ETFs vs. Bond Mutual Funds
- April 27, 2020: Total Return Bond Funds & Portfolios
- May 20, 2019: Morningstar Portfolio Manager Awards
- September 30, 2019: Boosting Bond ETF Portfolio’s Return With Muni Bond ETFs
- August 19, 2019: PIMCO Income Fund and Other Total Return Bond Funds Update
- August 12, 2019: Aggressive Fixed Income Portfolios?
- July 29, 2019: Fixed Income Portfolios In A Lower Yield Environment
- May 13, 2019: Total Return Bond ETFs Review
- October 29, 2018: Taxable Total Return Bond Plus Muni Bond Fund Based Portfolios
- October 1, 2018: Taxable vs. Tax Exempt High Yield Bonds
- September 24, 2018: High Yield Bonds In A Rising Rate Environment
- August 13, 2018: Total Return Bond ETF
- July 23, 2018: Municipal Bond Funds And Portfolios
- July 16, 2018: A Guide To Conservative Portfolios
- July 9, 2018: Conservative Allocation Mutual Funds Based Portfolios
- April 16, 2018: Municipal Bonds As A Fixed Income Asset Class
- March 26, 2018: Total Return Bond Update
- January 22, 2018: Where Are Bonds Heading?
- December 11, 2017: Cash Return And Interest Rate Update
- August 28, 2017: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios: Where Do They Fit?
- July 24, 2017: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios And Cash
- April 10, 2017: Total Return Bond ETFs And Portfolios
- February 27, 2017: Fidelity Total Bond Fund Review
- April 25, 2016: Tax Free Municipal Bond Funds & Portfolios
- March 28, 2016: Total Return Bond ETFs Review
- March 7, 2016: Defined Maturity Bond Fund Analysis
- February 15, 2016: Bond ETF Portfolios
- February 1, 2016: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios In A Volatile Period
- October 26, 2015: Total Return Bond Fund Review
- June 15, 2015: Giving Up Bonds?
- March 2, 2015: Total Return Bond ETFs
- September 22, 2014: Why Total Return Bond Funds?
- April 21, 2014: Total Return Bond Investing In The Current Market Environment
- June 3, 2013: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios For Major Brokerages
- May 27, 2013: Conservative Allocation Mutual Fund Portfolios
- February 18, 2013: Dividend & Income Funds In Asset Allocation
- September 16, 2013: Fixed Income No More?
- August 5, 2013: Total Return vs. High Yield Investing
- March 18, 2013: Are Bond Investors Doomed?
Fund Review
Factor ETFs
- November 4, 2019: Factor ETF Rotation
- October 28, 2019: Multi-factor ETFs vs. Equal Weight Multi-Factor Portfolios
- October 21, 2019: Multi-factor ETFs: Value And Momentum
- October 14, 2019: Low Volatility Factor ETFs
- September 23, 2019: Value ETFs
- September 16, 2019: Factor ETFs
- September 9, 2019: Momentum Factor Stock ETFs
- July 15, 2019: Quality Stock Factor ETFs
General mutual funds and ETFs
- April 26, 2021: The Best Active Fixed Income Funds Are Still Hard To Beat
- April 12, 2021: Risk Parity Funds In Current Environment
- April 5, 2021: DoubleLine Shiller CAPE 10 Based Funds Update
- March 8, 2021: The Not So Orderly Market Rotation Amid Rising Bond Yields
- March 1, 2021: Average 20% Annual Returns: The Upper Bound Of Stock Investments?!
- June 24, 2019: Asset Allocation Funds Review
- October 22, 2018: DoubleLine Shiller CAPE 10 Based Fund Review
- December 4, 2017: Mutual Fund Star Ratings: Are They Useful?
- November 28, 2016: Core Index ETFs Review
- November 21, 2016: International Exposure Of U.S. Large Companies
- September 26, 2016: Fixed Income Investing: Actively Managed Funds vs. Index Funds
- September 19, 2016: Stock Investing: Actively Managed Funds vs. Index Funds
- May 16, 2016: The PIMCO (Dis)Advantages
- November 23, 2015: Active Stock Fund Performance Consistency
- November 9, 2015: Broad Base Core Mutual Fund Review
- November 2, 2015: Broad Base Index Core ETFs Review
- August 31, 2015: Review of Asset Allocation Funds and Portfolios
- February 9, 2015: How Have Asset Allocation Funds Done?
- May 5, 2014: Asset Allocation Funds Review
- April 7, 2014: The Unbeatable US Stocks And Bonds Balance Portfolio?
- February 3, 2014: Alternative Investment Funds & Diversified Portfolios
Financial Planning & Retirement
- May 10, 2021: Financial Independence & Early Retirement
- September 28, 2020: Retirement Spending: Your Portfolio’s Volatility Matters
- April 13, 2020: A Closer Look At 401(k) Investment Portfolios
- February 3, 2020: Investment Landscape For Retirees And Would-be Retirees: Stocks
- January 27, 2020: Investment Landscape For Retirees And Would-be Retirees: Fixed Income
- August 26, 2019: Employer 401k Match: Yet Another Free Lunch Not To Be Missed
- April 15, 2019: The Importance Of Fixed Income Returns For Retirement Spending
- April 9, 2018: Exponential Or Compounding Nature In Investing
- November 13, 2017: Is This A Good Time For Retirees Or Would Be Retirees?
- March 27, 2017: Practical Consideration For IRAs And 401k Accounts
- March 20, 2017: Fund Fees: That’s (Still) Outrageous
- February 22, 2016: Be Cash Smart //we urge investors not to ignore their cash and invest smartly instead, especially in this ultra low rate environment
- April 20, 2015: 529 College Savings Plan Rebalance Policy Change
- October 6, 2014: Tips For 401k Open Enrollment
- December 30, 2013: How To Benchmark Portfolios
- December 16, 2013: Tax Efficient Portfolio Planning
- April 29, 2013: Goal Based Financial Planning And Investing
- July 8, 2013: When To Retire And Bear Market Impact On Retirement Income And Spending
- December 17, 2012: Financial Repression: What To Do With Your Investments
- November 26, 2012: College Savings 529 Plan Investment Portfolio Management
- November 5, 2012: 401K Investment Portfolio Management
Cash Management
- March 22, 2021: Ultra Short Term Bond ETF Portfolio As A Money Market Fund
- March 15, 2021: Make Your Own Private Bank
- January 11, 2021: Smart Cash Management: Can I Just Withdraw From My Bond Portfolio?
- August 24, 2020: Target Maturity Bond ETFs For Short Term Cash
- July 13, 2020: Short Term Cash, Treasury Bills, CDs And Future Fixed Income
- February 10, 2020: Update On Short Term Cash, Treasury Bills and Brokered CDs
- June 10, 2019: Money Market And Ultra Short Term Bond Funds
- February 4, 2019: Cash And Money Market Funds: Interests And Safety
- December 17, 2018: Robinhood’s ‘Revolution’ Or Gimmick
- November 12, 2018: The Staggering Low Interest Rates From Big Banks
- August 27, 2018: Money Market ETFs?
- May 7, 2018: Money Market Fund Taxonomy
- March 19, 2018: Treasury Bills vs. Brokered CDs
- October 2, 2017: The Role of Short Term Bond Funds
- September 25, 2017: Fees In Cash Investments
- May 15, 2017: Cash: Banking Or Investing?
Features & System Q&As
These newsletters address new features and how to for our system usage.
- April 19, 2021: New And Old Useful Features
- October 26, 2020: Recent Improvements
- October 23, 2017: A Primer For Portfolios
- October 3, 2016: Survey & Feedback
- May 23, 2016: AAII Article And Some Web Changes //AAII article on MyPlanIQ and some new portfolio additions/changes
- May 20, 2013: New Features: FolioInvesting One-Click, Portfolio Dividend & Static Portfolio Change
- April 22, 2013: Portfolio Rebalance – Ease of Use
- March 25, 2013: New Feature: Advanced Static Portfolios & Lazy Portfolio Asset Allocations
- February 4, 2013: Day To Day Portfolio Management
- December 3, 2012: Asset Trends & Correlations For Portfolio Construction
- September 24, 2012: Tax Efficient Investing
- March 26, 2012: A Few Good Sources To Help On Deciding Risk Profiles
- February 13th 2012: Static (Lazy) Porfolios and Re-balance Utility for My Actual Holdings
- March 12, 2012: Setting The Right Risk Profile
Existing Portfolio Performance Reviews
In general, we review various portfolio performance in each newsletter. However, you can get latest up to date performance result and comparison by clicking on links below portfolio comparison tables listed in our quarterly or annual review newsletters:
- June 17, 2019: Latest Performance Comparison Among Several Advanced Strategies
- February 11, 2019: “Best” Balanced Fund And Portfolios Revisited
- January 28, 2019: Fixed Income Review
- January 14, 2019: Tactical Asset Allocation Portfolio Review
- January 7, 2019: Global Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolio Review
- January 15, 2018: Tactical Portfolios Review
- January 8, 2018: Strategic Portfolios Review
- March 12, 2018: Defensive Conservative Portfolio Review
- August 14, 2017: Fidelity Commission Free ETFs Update
- December 5, 2016: Review Of Broad Base Core Mutual Funds For Brokerages
- October 19, 2015: Advanced Portfolio Review
- July 13, 2015: Pain in Tactical Portfolios
- January 19, 2015: Fixed Income Investing Review
- November 17, 2014: Retirement Spending Portfolios Update
- September 8, 2014: Momentum Based Portfolios Review
- June 30, 2014: Half Year Brokerage ETF and Mutual Fund Portfolios Review
- May 26, 2014: In Praise Of Low Cost Core Asset Class Based Portfolios
- March 17, 2014: Variable Annuity Portfolio Review
- March 3, 2014: Schwab Portfolios Review
- February 24, 2014: Fidelity Portfolios Review
- February 17, 2014: Versatile Portfolios Review
- December 23, 2013: Vanguard ETF, Mutual Fund & Retirement Income ETF Plans Update
- September 30, 2013: Quarter End Review
- July 1, 2013: Half Year Portfolio Review
- April 8, 2013: First Quarter Review: Trends Are In Place But Can They Sustain?
- January 21, 2013: Year End Review Of Brokerage Specific ETF and Mutual Fund Portfolios
- January 14, 2013: Year End Review Of Advanced Portfolios
Portfolios suggested by advisors and brokerages
Market Overview
The inflation scare and stock market fatigue have somewhat dampened the strong market. However, investors are not willing to leave behind this TINA (There Is No Alternative) stock market, afraid of being left behind again.
Regarding Q1 earnings reports, our tally on weekly S&P 500 companies’ blended earnings growth (actual reports and expected) continued its positive streak:
With 95% of the S&P 500 companies having reported last week,
- the blended earnings growth was 51.9%, compared with 50.3%, a week ago, 49.4% two weeks before, 45.8% three weeks before, 33.8% four weeks before, 30.2% five weeks before and, 23.8% on March 31, 2021.
Essentially, earnings reports kept surprising in the upside every week since the start of the reports.
As Buffett has said (warned): we consider it “the most interesting movie by far we’ve ever seen in terms of economics,’ investors should not be complacent in the current highly overvalued and over extended markets. We are again cautiously optimistic and reiterate the following practice:
- For strategic allocation (buy and hold) investors, ignore the current market behavior. Remember, as what we have emphasized numerous times, when you choose and commit to a strategic portfolio, you essentially know and commit that your investment horizon (or the time you need to utilize this capital) is 20 years or longer. As we pointed out, if your investments are those diversified (index) funds such as an S&P 500 index fund (VFINX, for example), you know your money is in some solid ‘business’ that eventually (20 years later) will deliver some reasonable returns. As long as you are comfortable with this thesis, you should sit tight and forget about the current gyration.
- For tactical investors, again, you have to ignore the current market noise. Furthermore, you should follow your strategy rigorously, especially in a time like this. Human emotion, both optimistic and pessimistic, and human desire, both greedy and fearful, are your worst enemies. This has been shown to be true time and time again.
Stock valuation is still extremely high by historical standard. For the moment, we believe it’s prudent to be cautious while riding on market uptrend. However how serious a correction might be, we have confidence in the US economy in the long term and thus in the stocks in aggregate. We just need to manage through interim losses carefully.
We again would like to emphasize that for any new investor and new money, the best way to step into this kind of markets is through dollar cost average (DCA), i.e. invest and/or follow a model portfolio in several phases (such as 2 or 3 months) instead of the whole sum at one shot.
Enjoy Newsletter
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–Thanks to those who have already contributed — we appreciate it.
Latest Articles
- May 17, 2021: Total Return Bond ETFs Review
- May 10, 2021: Financial Independence & Early Retirement
- May 3, 2021: Inflation, Sub Zero Interest Rate …
- April 26, 2021: The Best Active Fixed Income Funds Are Still Hard To Beat
- April 19, 2021: New And Old Useful Features
- April 12, 2021: Risk Parity Funds In Current Environment
- April 5, 2021: DoubleLine Shiller CAPE 10 Based Funds Update
- March 29, 2021: International Stocks vs. US Stocks
- March 22, 2021: Ultra Short Term Bond ETF Portfolio As A Money Market Fund
- March 15, 2021: Make Your Own Private Bank
- March 8, 2021: The Not So Orderly Market Rotation Amid Rising Bond Yields
- March 1, 2021: Average 20% Annual Returns: The Upper Bound Of Stock Investments?!
- February 22, 2021: Rising Bond Yields And Current Stock Trends
- February 8, 2021: Total Return Bond ETFs Review
- February 1, 2021: REITs And Major Asset Trends
- January 25, 2021: Industry ETFs And ARK ETFs Portfolios
- January 11, 2021: Smart Cash Management: Can I Just Withdraw From My Bond Portfolio?
- January 4, 2021: Our Investment Philosophy For 2021 And Beyond
- December 14, 2020: Style and Factor ETFs Portfolio Reviews
- December 7, 2020: A Really Long Term (30 Years) Stock Returns
- November 30, 2020: Higher Return Portfolios: Part 2
- November 16, 2020: Higher Return Portfolios
- November 9, 2020: Fixed Income Funds Update
- November 2, 2020: Polls Are Useless vs. This Investment Strategy Doesn’t Work!
- October 26, 2020: Recent Improvements
- October 19, 2020: REIT Indexes As Businesses
- October 12, 2020: Stock Indexes As Businesses
- October 5, 2020: Asset Trend Review
- September 28, 2020: Retirement Spending: Your Portfolio’s Volatility Matters
- September 21, 2020: Boring Utility Stocks Are Excellent Long Term Winners
- September 14, 2020: Surprised, Active Fixed Income Investors Have Done Better Than Stock Investors For The Last 20 Years!
- August 31, 2020: Investing In An Ultra-Low Return Environment
- August 24, 2020: Target Maturity Bond ETFs For Short Term Cash
- August 17, 2020: Newsletter Collection Update
- August 10, 2020: Fixed Income In A Speculative Era
- August 3, 2020: Sound Investment Strategies
- July 27, 2020: Total Return Bond Funds Update
- July 20, 2020: Divergence Between Value And Growth Stocks Everywhere
- July 13, 2020: Short Term Cash, Treasury Bills, CDs And Future Fixed Income
- July 6, 2020: Bond ETFs vs. Bond Mutual Funds
- June 29, 2020: Industry Sector ETF Rotation With Composite Momentum
- June 22, 2020: Industry Sector Rotation With Composite Momentum
- June 15, 2020: Advanced Minimum Equity Portfolios
- June 8, 2020: Recent Positive Developments
- June 1, 2020: Minimum Equity Portfolios
- May 18, 2020: Core Satellite Portfolios In The Current Pandemic
- May 11, 2020: Asset Trends Review
- May 4, 2020: The Real, Sensible And Wise Warren Buffett
- April 27, 2020: Total Return Bond Funds & Portfolios
- April 20, 2020: Multi-Factor ETFs and Rotation
- April 13, 2020: A Closer Look At 401(k) Investment Portfolios
- April 6, 2020: Long Term Stock Market Timing Since 1871 Revisited
- March 30, 2020: How Did Bond ETFs And Mutual Funds Fare In The Current Crisis?
- March 23, 2020: Chaos And Hope
- March 16, 2020: A Live Lesson
- March 9, 2020: Risk And Reward
- March 2, 2020: The Risk Of Coronavirus Outbreak
- February 24, 2020: Long Term Stock Valuation Based Investment Strategies
- February 10, 2020: Update On Short Term Cash, Treasury Bills and Brokered CDs
- February 3, 2020: Investment Landscape For Retirees And Would-be Retirees: Stocks
- January 27, 2020: Investment Landscape For Retirees And Would-be Retirees: Fixed Income
- January 13, 2020: Portfolio Performance: A Walk In The Past II
- January 6, 2020: Asset Outlook and Portfolio Strategies
- December 16, 2019: Q&As On Our Services
- December 9, 2019: Portfolio Constructions For Advanced Users
- December 2, 2019: Newsletter Collection Update
- November 25, 2019: Core ETFs or Core Mutual Funds Portfolios
- November 18, 2019: Introducing MyPlanIQ Asset Allocation Composite Strategy
- November 11, 2019: Market Indicator And Momentum
- November 4, 2019: Factor ETF Rotation
- October 28, 2019: Multi-factor ETFs vs. Equal Weight Multi-Factor Portfolios
- October 21, 2019: Multi-factor ETFs: Value And Momentum
- October 14, 2019: Low Volatility Factor ETFs
- October 7, 2019: Zero Commission Era Has Arrived, Is It Really That Good?
- September 30, 2019: Boosting Bond ETF Portfolio’s Return With Muni Bond ETFs
- September 23, 2019: Value ETFs
- September 16, 2019: Factor ETFs
- September 9, 2019: Momentum Factor Stock ETFs
- August 26, 2019: Employer 401k Match: Yet Another Free Lunch Not To Be Missed
- August 19, 2019: PIMCO Income Fund and Other Total Return Bond Funds Update
- August 12, 2019: Aggressive Fixed Income Portfolios?
- August 5, 2019: Long Term Investment Strategies And Short Term Market Noises
- July 29, 2019: Fixed Income Portfolios In A Lower Yield Environment
- July 22, 2019: Core Satellite Portfolios Balance Fluctuation
- July 15, 2019: Quality Stock Factor ETFs
- July 8, 2019: Surprise! Brokerages Make Most From Your Cash, Not Commissions
- July 1, 2019: Utilities Sector Review
- June 24, 2019: Asset Allocation Funds Review
- June 17, 2019: Latest Performance Comparison Among Several Advanced Strategies
- June 10, 2019: Money Market And Ultra Short Term Bond Funds
- June 3, 2019: What We Can Learn From The Seasonality Strategy
- May 20, 2019: Morningstar Portfolio Manager Awards
- May 13, 2019: Total Return Bond ETFs Review
- May 6, 2019: Global Allocation Revisited
- April 29, 2019: Asset Trend Review
- April 22, 2019: The Current State Of Fixed Income
- April 15, 2019: The Importance Of Fixed Income Returns For Retirement Spending
- April 8, 2019: Newsletter Collection Update
- April 1, 2019: S&P 500 As A Business
- March 25, 2019: Health Care Sector Review
- March 18, 2019: The Risk Of Stock Investing
- March 11, 2019: Consumer Staples Sector Review
- March 4, 2019: Global Stock Valuation Update
- February 25, 2019: ‘Bad’ Tactical Strategy
- February 11, 2019: “Best” Balanced Fund And Portfolios Revisited
- February 4, 2019: Cash And Money Market Funds: Interests And Safety
- January 28, 2019: Fixed Income Review
- January 14, 2019: Tactical Asset Allocation Portfolio Review
- January 7, 2019: Global Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolio Review
- December 17, 2018: Robinhood’s ‘Revolution’ Or Gimmick
- December 10, 2018: How Defensive Are REITs?
- December 3, 2018: Conservative Core Satellite Portfolio
- November 26, 2018: Allocation Mutual Fund Review
- November 19, 2018: Is The Recent Downtrend Sustainable?
- November 12, 2018: The Staggering Low Interest Rates From Big Banks
- November 5, 2018: The ‘Right’ Or ‘Wrong’ Decision
- October 29, 2018: Taxable Total Return Bond Plus Muni Bond Fund Based Portfolios
- October 22, 2018: DoubleLine Shiller CAPE 10 Based Fund Review
- October 15, 2018: Newsletter Collection Update
- October 8, 2018: Asset Trend Review
- October 1, 2018: Taxable vs. Tax Exempt High Yield Bonds
- September 24, 2018: High Yield Bonds In A Rising Rate Environment
- September 10, 2018: Value, Growth And Blend Stock Style Investing
- August 27, 2018: Money Market ETFs?
- August 20, 2018: How Momentum Investing Stacks Up?
- August 13, 2018: Total Return Bond ETF
- August 6, 2018: Fidelity Zero-Fee Index Funds
- July 30, 2018: Tax Efficient Portfolios
- July 23, 2018: Municipal Bond Funds And Portfolios
- July 16, 2018: A Guide To Conservative Portfolios
- July 9, 2018: Conservative Allocation Mutual Funds Based Portfolios
- July 2, 2018: Small Cap Stocks For The Long Term
- June 25, 2018: What Can We Learn From GE’s Removal From Dow Jones Index?
- June 18, 2018: The ‘Best’ Balanced Portfolio Continues To Excel
- June 11, 2018: Is 10 Year Long Enough For Portfolio Comparison?
- June 4, 2018: Action Plan: Risk Review For Investments
- May 21, 2018: Rising Rates, Consumer Staples And Stock Index
- May 14, 2018: Newsletter Collection Update
- May 7, 2018: Money Market Fund Taxonomy
- April 30, 2018: Momentum Investing Review
- April 23, 2018: Commodities In Current Environment
- April 16, 2018: Municipal Bonds As A Fixed Income Asset Class
- April 9, 2018: Exponential Or Compounding Nature In Investing
- April 2, 2018: Inside Of The Stock Chaos
- March 26, 2018: Total Return Bond Update
- March 19, 2018: Treasury Bills vs. Brokered CDs
- March 12, 2018: Defensive Conservative Portfolio Review
- March 5, 2018: Warren Buffett’s Advices
- February 26, 2018: Pros And Cons of Strategic And Tactical Portfolios In 2018
- February 12, 2018: Trend Review
- February 5, 2018: Market Selloff And Long Term Investing
- January 29, 2018: The New Addition To Our Total Return Bond Fund Candidates
- January 22, 2018: Where Are Bonds Heading?
- January 15, 2018: Tactical Portfolios Review
- January 8, 2018: Strategic Portfolios Review
- December 18, 2017: Record Highs And Risk
- December 11, 2017: Cash Return And Interest Rate Update
- December 4, 2017: Mutual Fund Star Ratings: Are They Useful?
- November 20, 2017: Thankful And Mindful
- November 13, 2017: Is This A Good Time For Retirees Or Would Be Retirees?
- November 6, 2017: Newsletter Collection Update
- October 30, 2017: Rising Interest Rates
- October 23, 2017: A Primer For Portfolios
- October 16, 2017: REITs As An Asset Class
- October 9, 2017: Conservative Portfolios Revisited
- October 2, 2017: The Role of Short Term Bond Funds
- September 25, 2017: Fees In Cash Investments
- September 18, 2017: Conservative Portfolios Review
- September 11, 2017: International Diversification Effect
- September 4, 2017: Invest And Speculate Revisited
- August 28, 2017: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios: Where Do They Fit?
- August 21, 2017: Portfolio Performance: A Walk In The Past
- August 14, 2017: Fidelity Commission Free ETFs Update
- August 7, 2017: I Didn’t Learn Anything — Mistake vs. Temporary Underperformance
- July 31, 2017: Asset Classes And Fund Choices: A Primer
- July 24, 2017: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios And Cash
- July 17, 2017: Long Term Stock Holding Periods For Retirement
- July 10, 2017: Half Year Asset Trend Review
- June 26, 2017: How To Beat The Best Balanced Allocation Fund
- June 19, 2017: Newsletter Collection Update
- June 12, 2017: A Mixed Bag Performance of Momentum Investing
- June 5, 2017: How To Start A New Portfolio
- May 29, 2017: Alternative Assets And Their Role In Portfolios
- May 22, 2017: Summer Seasonality And Portfolio Management
- May 15, 2017: Cash: Banking Or Investing?
- May 8, 2017: Holding Period of Long Term Timing Portfolios
- May 1, 2017: Debate on Risk vs. Volatility
- April 24, 2017: The Long Term Stock Market Timing Return Since 1871
- April 17, 2017: Risk vs. Volatility: Long Term Stock Market Returns
- April 10, 2017: Total Return Bond ETFs And Portfolios
- April 3, 2017: Quarter End Asset Trend Review
- March 27, 2017: Practical Consideration For IRAs And 401k Accounts
- March 20, 2017: Fund Fees: That’s (Still) Outrageous
- March 13, 2017: Long Term Stock Valuation Review
- March 6, 2017: Asset Classes for Retirement Investments
- February 27, 2017: Fidelity Total Bond Fund Review
- February 20, 2017: Long Term Stock Timing Based Portfolios And Their Roles
- February 13, 2017: Alternative Investment Portfolios Review
- February 6, 2017: Tax Free Municipal Bond Investments Review
- January 30, 2017: Brokerage Specific Conservative Portfolios
- January 23, 2017: Fixed Income Portfolio Review
- January 16, 2017: Long Term Trend Following Portfolio Review
- January 9, 2017: Tactical Asset Allocation Review
- January 3, 2017: Strategic Asset Allocation Review
- December 12, 2016: Enhanced Index Funds
- December 5, 2016: Review Of Broad Base Core Mutual Funds For Brokerages
- November 28, 2016: Core Index ETFs Review
- November 21, 2016: International Exposure Of U.S. Large Companies
- November 14, 2016: Asset Trends After The Election
- November 7, 2016: Rising Rate And Current Bond Trend
- October 31, 2016: Economy Power And Long Term Stock Returns
- October 24, 2016: Current Commodity Trend And Managed Futures
- October 17, 2016: Investment Mistakes And Good Or Bad Investment Strategies
- October 10, 2016: Momentum Investing Review
- October 3, 2016: Survey & Feedback
- September 26, 2016: Fixed Income Investing: Actively Managed Funds vs. Index Funds
- September 19, 2016: Stock Investing: Actively Managed Funds vs. Index Funds
- September 12, 2016: Newsletter Update
- September 5, 2016: Overvalued Markets And Long Term Timing Strategies
- August 29, 2016: Your 401K Finally Draws Attention
- August 22, 2016: Inflation Protected Securities TIPS For Current Overvalued Markets
- August 15, 2016: Risk On: Emerging Market Stocks And Small Cap Stocks
- August 8, 2016: Portfolio Construction Using Stock ETFs And Bond Mutual Funds
- August 1, 2016: Adding Value To Your Own Investments
- July 25, 2016: Tactical Asset Allocation Funds Review
- July 18, 2016: Strategic Asset Allocation & Lazy Portfolio Review
- July 11, 2016: Asset Trend Review
- June 27, 2016: Secular Cycles For Tactical And Strategic Investment Strategies
- June 20, 2016: A World of Debt
- June 13, 2016: Managed Futures For Portfolio Building
- June 6, 2016: Newsletter Summary
- May 30, 2016: Swensen Portfolio And Permanent Portfolios
- May 23, 2016: AAII Article And Some Web Changes
- May 16, 2016: The PIMCO (Dis)Advantages
- May 9, 2016: Boost Your Dull Summer Investments
- May 2, 2016: Low Cost Index Fund Investing
- April 25, 2016: Tax Free Municipal Bond Funds & Portfolios
- April 18, 2016: Asset Class Trend Review
- April 11, 2016: Construction of Sound And Conservative Portfolios
- March 28, 2016: Total Return Bond ETFs Review
- March 21, 2016: Small And Large Company Stock Performance In Different Economic Expansion Cycles
- March 14, 2016: Are Tactical And Timing Strategies Losing Steam?
- March 7, 2016: Defined Maturity Bond Fund Analysis
- February 29, 2016: Smart Strategic Asset Allocation Rebalance When Market Trend Changes
- February 22, 2016: Be Cash Smart
- February 15, 2016: Bond ETF Portfolios
- February 8, 2016: Newsletter Collection Update
- February 1, 2016: Total Return Bond Fund Portfolios In A Volatile Period
- January 25, 2016: Alternative Portfolios Review
- January 18, 2016: Strategic Asset Allocation: A Cautious Outlook
- January 11, 2016: Review Of Trend Following Tactical Asset Allocation
- January 4, 2016: What Worked And Didn’t In 2015
- December 21, 2015: Distressed Assets
- December 14, 2015: High Yield Bonds And Their Correlation With Stocks
- December 7, 2015: Diversification And Global Allocation
- November 30, 2015: Investors and Speculators Combined
- November 23, 2015: Active Stock Fund Performance Consistency
- November 16, 2015: Permanent, Risk Parity And Alternative Portfolios Review
- November 9, 2015: Broad Base Core Mutual Fund Review
- November 2, 2015: Broad Base Index Core ETFs Review
- October 26, 2015: Total Return Bond Fund Review
- October 19, 2015: Advanced Portfolio Review
- October 12, 2015: What About Commodities?
- October 5, 2015: Core Satellite Portfolios In A 401k Account
- September 28, 2015: Risk Managed Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolios Revisited
- September 21, 2015: Quest For The Best Investment Strategy
- September 14, 2015: Core Satellite Portfolios In Market Turmoil
- September 7, 2015: Market Rout Creates An Opportunity to Reposition Your Portfolios
- August 31, 2015: Review of Asset Allocation Funds and Portfolios
- August 24, 2015: Market Rout And Your Portfolios
- August 17, 2015: ETF or Mutual Fund Based Portfolios
- August 10, 2015: Updated Newsletter Collection
- August 3, 2015: Slippery Asset Trends
- July 27, 2015: Performance Dispersion Among Momentum Based Portfolios
- July 20, 2015: Global Balanced Portfolio Benchmarks
- July 13, 2015: Pain in Tactical Portfolios
- July 6, 2015: Fixed Income Total Return Bond Funds In Strategic Asset Allocation Portfolios
- June 29, 2015: Core ETF Commission Free Portfolios
- June 22, 2015: Secular Asset Trends
- June 15, 2015: Giving Up Bonds?
- June 1, 2015: Summer Blues?
- May 26, 2015: Cash, Bonds and Stocks In A Rising Rate Environment
- May 18, 2015: Portfolio Update
- May 11, 2015: Pain in Fixed Income?
- May 4, 2015: The Balanced Stock and Long Term Treasury Bond Portfolios
- April 27, 2015: Long Term Treasury Bond Behavior
- April 20, 2015: 529 College Savings Plan Rebalance Policy Change
- April 13, 2015: Total Return Bond Funds As Smart Cash
- April 6, 2015: The Low Return Environment
- March 30, 2015: Brokerage Specific Core Mutual Fund Portfolios 2
- March 23, 2015: Investment Arithmetic for Long Term Investments
- March 16, 2015: Brokerage Specific Core Mutual Fund Portfolios
- March 9, 2015: Newsletter Collection Update
- March 2, 2015: Total Return Bond ETFs
- February 23, 2015: Why Is Global Tactical Asset Allocation Not Popular?
- February 16, 2015: Where Are Permanent Portfolios Going?
- February 9, 2015: How Have Asset Allocation Funds Done?
- February 2, 2015: Risk Management Everywhere
- January 26, 2015: Composite Portfolios Review
- January 19, 2015: Fixed Income Investing Review
- January 12, 2015: How Does Trend Following Tactical Asset Allocation Strategy Deliver Returns
- January 5, 2015: When Forecast Fails
- December 22, 2014: Long Term Asset Returns: How Long Is Long?
- December 15, 2014: Beaten Down Assets
- December 8, 2014: Implementing Core Asset Portfolios In a Brokerage
- December 1, 2014: Two Key Issues of Investment Strategies
- November 24, 2014: Holiday Readings
- November 17, 2014: Retirement Spending Portfolios Update
- November 10, 2014: Fixed Income Or Cash
- November 3, 2014: Asset Trend Review
- October 27, 2014: Investment Loss, Mistakes And Market Cycles
- October 20, 2014: Strategic Portfolios With Managed Volatility
- October 13, 2014: Embrace Volatility
- October 6, 2014: Tips For 401k Open Enrollment
- September 29, 2014: What Can We Learn From Bill Gross’ Departure From PIMCO?
- September 22, 2014: Why Total Return Bond Funds?
- September 15, 2014: Equity And Total Return Bond Fund Composite Portfolios
- September 8, 2014: Momentum Based Portfolios Review
- September 1, 2014: Risk & Diversification: Mint.com Interview
- August 25, 2014: Remember Risk
- August 18, 2014: Consistency, The Most Important Edge In Investing: Tactical Case
- August 11, 2014: What To Do In Overvalued Stock Markets
- August 4, 2014: Is This The Peak Or Correction?
- July 28, 2014: Stock Musings
- July 21, 2014: Permanent Portfolios & Four Pillar Foundation Based Framework
- July 14, 2014: Composite Portfolios Review
- July 7, 2014: Portfolio Behavior During Market Corrections
- June 30, 2014: Half Year Brokerage ETF and Mutual Fund Portfolios Review
- June 23, 2014: Newsletter Collection Update
- June 16, 2014: There Are Always Lottery Winners
- June 9, 2014: The Arithmetic of Investment Mistakes
- June 2, 2014: Tips On Portfolio Rebalance
- May 26, 2014: In Praise Of Low Cost Core Asset Class Based Portfolios
- May 19, 2014: Consistency, The Most Important Edge In Investing: Strategic Case
- May 12, 2014: How To Handle An Elevated Overvalued Market
- May 5, 2014: Asset Allocation Funds Review
- April 28, 2014: Now The Economy Backs To The ‘Old Normal’, Should Our Investments Too?
- April 21, 2014: Total Return Bond Investing In The Current Market Environment