Update of Permanent Portfolio performance

[Odysseusa]

Here is the update of my Permanent Portfolio. I put ~ $5,000 in each. Thank you for your encouragement and support.





I also contribute to 401K and I put my 401K in RS Emerging Markets Fund.

[MediumTex]

Which asset did you have the hardest time buying?

[Odysseusa]

I have a hardest time buying stocks (VTI) because it keeps going down.

[MediumTex]

I meant when you set up your PP, which asset was the hardest for you to buy?

For most people it normally seems to be gold or bonds.

[Odysseusa]

Thanks, MediumTex.


I am adding $1,000 each to SHY, TLT, IAU, VTI for a total of ~ $4,000.

[Odysseusa]

Permanent Portfolio as of today

[Odysseusa]

[Storm]

Wow, you picked a great time to start a PP!  From my napkin math it looks like you're up about 4% already.

[Odysseusa]

Thank you, Storm.


I will try to update PPers weekly about the performance.




The Permanent Portfolio is similar to the Constitution of the United States. We can identify their four components like below.


Cash = Bill of Rights
Bond = Judicial Branch
Gold = Executive Branch
Stock = Legislative Branch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Sta ... _of_Rights

The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, which limit the power of the U.S. federal government. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property including freedoms of religion, speech, a free press, free assembly, and free association, as well as the right to keep and bear arms.


They were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress as a series of legislative articles, were adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789,[1][2] formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791, through the process of ratification by three-fourths of the States.

Originally, the Bill of Rights included legal protection for white men only,[3] excluding most Americans and all women.[4] It took additional Constitutional Amendments and numerous Supreme Court cases to extend the same rights to all U.S. citizens.

The Bill of Rights plays a key role in American law and government, and remains a vital symbol of the freedoms and culture of the nation. One of the first fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights is on public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C..

[Odysseusa]

I meant when you set up your PP, which asset was the hardest for you to buy?

For most people it normally seems to be gold or bonds.

Hi M.T.,


You are correct that people have a difficulty time investing in gold (GLD or IAU) or bonds (TLT). However, both of them are important because they provide stability and movement, similar to our two feets; while cash (SHY) and stock (VTI) are our two hands. We can agree that our two hands and feet are essential for our bodies.

[Odysseusa]

In addition to the Permanent Portfolio, I try to contribute around $5 to $10 per week to my 401K account and invest it in the Emerging Market. In my case, it is RS Emerging Markets Fund - Class K.

[TripleB]

Ody:

It's great that you are in the PP and that it has been doing well for you over the short term. I'd caution you against continuing to post daily/weekly returns. CraigR has made the well-thought out decision to not post short-term returns on a regular basis, because nothing good can come of it:

1) The PP could have amazing short-term results, like 4% over a few weeks, while the rest of the market drops 10%+. This would lure in profit-seekers who chase the hottest thing at the time.

2) The PP could have really bad short-term results, which might scare off long-term investors who are considering the PP.

I caution you not to become frustrated if the PP lags against the stock market for a few months later this year. Stay the course, and over the long run of a few years, you will notice modest gains at minimal standard deviation.

[Storm]

I actually don't think it harms anything to share your personal results, if you like.

For most of us we don't necessarily want to share our net worth with the entire Internet, but if anyone wants to keep a detailed journal I really appreciate it and can usually learn a few things from other's mistakes.  A lot of people on the Early Retirement Extreme site keep very detailed journals and they are interesting to read.

I guess when you are younger and your net worth is less than a certain amount there is not much harm in sharing details with random strangers on the Internet.  However, those of us a little further along don't necessarily want to make ourselves targets to the various unsavory individuals on the Internet that might want to gain access to our accounts, etc.

[Odysseusa]

Thank you, TripleB and Storm. I will be more careful next time. Have a wonderful and joyful week ahead of us.

[Odysseusa]

Security Name  Shares Cost/share Orig. Cost WS Adj Mkt. Price Mkt. Value ST Gain/Loss LT Gain/Loss % Change
ISHARES GOLD TRUST (IAU) 581 $16.7956 $9,758.24   $18.37 $10,672.97 $914.73   9.37
ISHS LEHMAN 20+ YR TREAS BD (TLT) 92 $103.3587 $9,509.00   $112.51 $10,350.92 $841.92   8.85
ISHS LEHMAN 1-3 YER TREAS B (SHY) 117 $84.5769 $9,895.50   $84.64 $9,902.88 $7.38   0.07
VANGUARD TOTAL STOCK MKT VI (VTI) 166 $61.9157 $10,278.01   $60.37 $10,021.42 $-256.59   -2.50

[Odysseusa]

The positions in the green boxes are Permanent Portfolio while the
positions outside the green boxes are mostly Increasing-Dividend stocks.
This is for sharing-purpose only and please do due diligence before investing.

[steve]

Odysseusa
Where or how do you track your portfolio? The charts you post look similar to smartmoney free portfolio tracking.

[Odysseusa]

Hi Steve,
I use GainsKeeper to keep track of the portfolios.

[steve]

Thanks Odysseusa

Gainskeeper looks nice , I use smartmoney free portfolio tracker along with my own excel spreadsheet. The smartmoney portfolio tracker is very close to realtime. How close to real time is gainskeeper?

[longeyes]

I started PP portfolios this last February, using PRPFX and a four-component HBPP.  To date HBPP is up 13.3 pct, PRPFX is up 5.8 pct.

[Odysseusa]

Hi Steve, LongEyes, etc.
GainsKeeper usually provides the updated information immediately when you click the "refresh" button. Please keep in mind that I put my assets in mostly Permanent Portfolio and increasing-dividend stocks with dividends between 3% and 4%. In summary, it is mostly SHY, TLT, GLD/IAU, VTI/VT, and increasing-dividend stocks.

LongEyes,
Why is there a difference of almost 5% between HBPP and PRPFX?

[longeyes]

Odysseusa:

Looking at the comparative performance of the four HBPP components vis-a-vis PRPFX the conclusion I draw is that PRPFX missed the full benefit of gold (I use SGOL) and long-term Treasuries (TLT for me) and also lost a few points on the equity portion (VTI vs. individual stocks).

Since 2/1/11 I show VTI at -6 pct, SGOL at +34 pct, TLT at +26 pct, and SHY at just under 1 pct.

The disparity between the two portfolios is more than I would have expected with PRPFX flagging since August.

[longeyes]

Update, through today, seven months: PRPFX +6.3 pct; HBPP +13.2 pct.  Almost seven per cent difference.

[Reub]

If you include a 10% position in EDV as MT suggests, you get a return of 7.45% YTD for the PRPFX/EDV blend.

[longeyes]

Yes, but the disparity is still striking.