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The Dollar Cost Averaging Experiment Results thru April 30 – The DOW Shines?

Recall the objective of this experiment is to produce double digit returns by dollar cost averaging into either financial assets or hard assets based on where we are in the cycle.  I contend that we are in the hard asset phase.  Read “The No-Brainer Investment Strategy to Double Digit Returns” for more details.

There is no question that the DOW has been the star of the year or has it?  It has definitely garnered all of the headlines.  How many realize that year to date gold is up more than the DOW?  I was surprised and I watch this stuff every day.  Gold as measured by its ETF (GLD) is up 7.9% v. DOW at 6.4%.  Who would have thunk it?

Continue reading “The Dollar Cost Averaging Experiment Results thru April 30 – The DOW Shines?”

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Week in Review 4/27 – DOW Breaks 13,000

The DOW breaks 13,000 and the bubbleheads are already talking about 14,000.  If the 13,000 was adjusted for inflation – we would still be below the highs from 2000, but that doesn’t make for a good news story.  The mantra on Wall Street is typically sell in May go away.  However, this year everyone is afraid of missing the run.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

On the commodities front, Precious and Base Metals lagged: Gold -2.0%, Silver -2.7% and Copper -2.4% for the week.  Oil found the plus side +3.6% for the week.

So, how did the portfolios perform? Continue reading “Week in Review 4/27 – DOW Breaks 13,000”

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Week in Review 4/20 – DOW Makes Record High

China Melt-Down II couldn’t stop the DOW from making record closing highs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Thursday had feelings of deja vu when China’s market fell 4% on concerns of an overheating economy.  This carried over to the U.S. markets in early trading, but by the close the DOW managed its way back to positive territory.  By Friday, traders determined that growth is good and pushed the DOW up 146 points.  The DOW, S&P 500 and NASADAQ for the week closed up 2.8%, 2.3% and 1.4% respectively.

The commodities were a mixed bag.  One would think a booming economy would increased demands for energy.  That’s not how the market interpreted China’s 11.1% Q1 growth rate.  Oil was down 3.3% for the week, but King Copper continued its roll closing up 2.4%.  Gold and Silver moved in opposite directions.  Gold was up 0.9% and Silver was down 0.9% for the week.

So, how did the portfolios perform? Continue reading “Week in Review 4/20 – DOW Makes Record High”