Gyroscopic Investing

Cortopassi wrote: Quite a good feeling lately being in the PP.  I have friends a few cubes down who have been watching their near 100% stock portfolios vaporize lately, and here I am stress free just watching...

You mean you're not hurling little balls of paper into their cubicles with taunting messages inside?

I too am having fun watching the muppets panic today.  It almost makes up for the dismal performance we had last year.  1500 points lost on the Dow in less than a week, and the PP is up.

Can't wait until the 3pm hour when the margin calls come due - need to make some popcorn to watch this part...

mortalpawn wrote: I too am having fun watching the muppets panic today.  It almost makes up for the dismal performance we had last year.  1500 points lost on the Dow in less than a week, and the PP is up.

Can't wait until the 3pm hour when the margin calls come due - need to make some popcorn to watch this part...

Now, now, no disrespect to muppets. Remember we have one here! 

Libertarian666 wrote:

mortalpawn wrote: I too am having fun watching the muppets panic today.  It almost makes up for the dismal performance we had last year.  1500 points lost on the Dow in less than a week, and the PP is up.

Can't wait until the 3pm hour when the margin calls come due - need to make some popcorn to watch this part...

Now, now, no disrespect to muppets. Remember we have one here! 

MAHNA MAHNA!

Good buying opportunity I'd say.

It’s About Time in the Market, Not Market Timing

Muppet here!!  (raises hand frantically)

I must say I so thoroughly enjoyed the panicky scenes at MSNBC today (stocks down, Ebola up, ISIS flat...).  And the Wall Street Journal video with the guy from Barron's predicting that bonds are going to tank next year.  The PP sure makes it easy to kick back and relax at times like this!

Incidentally does anyone remember the last thread talking about how hesitant some people were to buy the bond allocation of the PP?  I do hope whoever that person was went ahead and bought the bonds.

Meanwhile, for your viewing enjoyment...my favorite Daily Show clip from the 2008 debacle:

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/uc9y5 ... ial-advice

It's amazing --- these guys are essentially never right, and yet people continue listening to them. Not just listening, but paying a lot of money to hear their advice.

sophie wrote:I must say I so thoroughly enjoyed the panicky scenes at MSNBC today (stocks down, Ebola up, ISIS flat...).

Was that MSNBC or CNBC?

I used to watch CNBC in my hotel room. It's fun entertainment.

I confess to watching Bloomberg now and then, but only because I like Emily Chang's face.

sophie wrote: Incidentally does anyone remember the last thread talking about how hesitant some people were to buy the bond allocation of the PP?  I do hope whoever that person was went ahead and bought the bonds.

I'm still pretty green having started in 2010, but it seems like there have always been 'Why Bonds Now' threads. I suppose it's understandable, but I just blindly bought them. You know how some investors are "too smart for their own good"? I've never been burdened with that. ;-)

sophie wrote: Muppet here!!  (raises hand frantically)

Yes, you were the Muppet I was thinking of. 

Did we waste a lot of time gloating about bonds now that the S&P is rallying?

@TennPaGa - done! Well, moved to a darker gray, at least.

Dualstow, Gloating is always time well spent. The reason we hold a diversified asset mix is so that we always have something to gloat about. At least that is my understanding of the PP!

As of October 29, my PP is up 10%.  However, I have about 19% of the cash portion in two REITs that are throwing off some good dividends.

This is a good outcome compared to 2013 when my PP was down 1.8%. 

EdwardjK wrote: As of October 29, my PP is up 10%.  However, I have about 19% of the cash portion in two REITs that are throwing off some good dividends.

This is a good outcome compared to 2013 when my PP was down 1.8%.

A PP does not substitute cash for REIT's, but I concur that both the PP and VNQ are having a good year. I own 9.5% of retirement (variable portfolio) assets in a REIT index as well.

buddtholomew wrote:

EdwardjK wrote: As of October 29, my PP is up 10%.  However, I have about 19% of the cash portion in two REITs that are throwing off some good dividends.

This is a good outcome compared to 2013 when my PP was down 1.8%.

A PP does not substitute cash for REIT's, but I concur that both the PP and VNQ are having a good year. I own 9.5% of retirement (variable portfolio) assets in a REIT index as well.

If interested, I refer you to Brad Thomas, a knowledgeable REIT investor.  You can follow him on SeekingAlpha.com or subscribe to his newsletter.

He has a great track record on selecting high-quality REITs that would provide a higher yield than a REIT ETF.

Hey, guys: Please help me understand where you're getting those YTD returns?  Morningstar is showing PRPFX as having a YTD of only .28% and last year as having - 2.02% 

I thought PRPFX was pretty much the mutual fund version of the PP?

Coffee, PRPFX is definitely not the same as the HBPP. PRPFX underweights long term treasuries which are having a nice year and also invests in Swiss Francs, which are pegged to the free-falling Euro.

Coffee wrote: Hey, guys: Please help me understand where you're getting those YTD returns?  Morningstar is showing PRPFX as having a YTD of only .28% and last year as having - 2.02% 

I thought PRPFX was pretty much the mutual fund version of the PP?

PRPFX is based on an earlier version of Browne's thinking, and includes silver and Swiss Francs, avoids long term bonds, and engages in stock picking (as opposed to going with the overall market).  It's an OK alternative if there's nothing better that's available, but it's definitely not the same as the 25/25/25/25 PP.  The "PP" returns are based on an equal allocation to cash (specifically SHY which is a 1-3 year treasury ETF), long term bonds (TLT), gold (IAU), and the total stock market (VTI).  PRPFX's allocation is

20% in Gold,
5% in Silver,
10% in Swiss franc assets,
15% in stocks of real estate and natural resource companies,
15% in Aggressive growth stocks,
35% of its assets in Dollar assets

So, 25% gold and silver, 10% Swiss francs, 30% stocks (but real estate, natural resources and aggressive growth rather than the overall market), and 35% "dollar" assets (basically cash).

And they charge a .7% expense ratio as well.

Just stating the obvious here... As rickb said, no long term bonds, which means not holding the PP's top performing asset so far this year.

Edit: Just saw Reub's post where he already covered this, Sorry about that!

Also, the fact that PRPFX still holds Swiss Francs is really puzzling to me and just about everyone else on this forum

barrett wrote: Just stating the obvious here... As rickb said, no long term bonds, which means not holding the PP's top performing asset so far this year.

Edit: Just saw Reub's post where he already covered this, Sorry about that!

Also, the fact that PRPFX still holds Swiss Francs is really puzzling to me and just about everyone else on this forum

If they are getting an above-zero interest rate on the CHF, I can see that as an income investment that also adds geographical diversification.
Also, CHF might be a good speculation here, although that should be in the VP section.

The PP is now up about 6.7% real YTD. No longer beating the S&P500, but still darn good!

PS, I'm showing closer to 8%. I have LLTs up about 21%, S&P up about 11%, gold down 1% and cash up a bit (lots of old savings bonds for me).

barrett wrote: PS, I'm showing closer to 8%. I have LLTs up about 21%, S&P up about 11%, gold down 1% and cash up a bit (lots of old savings bonds for me).

That's awesome! I was just looking at a dumb simulation from etfreplay.com. Peoples' individual portfolios are bound to be different depending on their current weightings and chosen assets (e.g. I-bonds vs T-bills)

Keep in mind I gave the real (inflation adjusted) figure, which takes into account a CPI of about 1.9%. Regardless, this year's YTD performance gets a thumbs-up from me!

To my surprise I noticed this morning that Vanguard Tax-Managed Balanced (vtmfx) is up 9.81% ytd. Not too shabby either.