Updates

I will not be able to update this regularly going forward. Too many projects, too little time. Future posts will be general commentaries.

Portfolio Update

IWP & EWC should have been sold at the beginning of the week.

Portfolio Update, 6/15/08

1. Buy IWP.

2. Sell EWO and buy EWC.

Portfolio Update, 6/8/08

No changes.

Portfolio Update, 6/1/08

No changes.

Portfolio Update, 5/26/08

Sell IWP. Maintain positions in EWO & IYM.

Portfolio Update, 5/18/08

On Monday's open:

1. Sell IWN
2. Use the proceeds to buy IWP (iShares Russell Midcap Growth).

The switch from small cap value to midcap growth is consistent with the beginning phases of a bull market. Growth will outperform at these times, and other indicators are largely bullish in keeping with the scenario that any recession will be shallow.

Last week's largest gainer was EWO, which delivered almost 6.7%. These strategies do well in rising markets but please remember to take profits and move to cash as the rules dictate.

Continue holding IYM.

Portfolio Update, 5/11/08

Continue holding IWN.

Sell EWP (iShares Spain) for a loss of less than 1%. Buy EWO (iShares Austria).

Last week's gains resulted from the 4.6% gain in IYM.

Portfolio Update, 5/4/08

No changes. YTD performance is +3.5%, beating all major indexes despite lagging them in April.

Thoughts on Data Problems

These things happen. There will be delays in getting data caused by vendors. There will be delays caused by your hardware, or your schedule. Using a weekly timeframe, this is not significant. A few days will not have a significant impact on long-term performance. Even in the worst week in market history in October 1987, failing to act on Monday's open would not have been the end of the world. Half of those losses were recovered within the week.

This strategy is a long-term investment plan. There is no need to develop the redundant systems required for a day trader. In a worst case, the calculations would have been done by hand today (actually in Excel using data from Yahoo).

Portfolio Update, 4/30/08

No changes to the holdings this week.

Data Problem

I have had a problem with my data provider this weekend and will have to resolve it tomorrow morning. Portfolio will be updated as soon as possible.

Portfolio Update, 4/20/08

Continue holding IWN, EWP & IYM.

Portfolio Update, April 13, 2008

No changes to the model portfolio - and I will get better at timely updates.

Portfolio Update, 4/6/2008

We should be fully invested on Monday's open. Continue holding IWN. Buy EWP & IYM.

Porfolio Update, 3/30/08

IAU should be sold for a gain of about 9% and the proceeds reinvested in IWN, an ETF that is based upon the Russell 2000 Value Index. Getting close to a buy level on the international segment (current top performer is EWP).

Portfolio Update, 3/24/08

No change in model portfolio.

Thank you AAII Albuquerque

I appreciated the opportunity to discuss relative strength with you this evening. Your attention and questions will help me a great deal as I prepare this material for other groups. Hopefully, your questions were answered. If you have any other questions, you can leave them as comments here or send me an email at relativestrengthinvesting@gmail.com. Eileen and I thank you for the invitation to your lovely city.

Portfolio Update

Updating late this week due to some travel:

No change to portfolio- continue holding only a single gold-based ETF.

We managed a small gain last week, while the stock markets ended the week with losses. Volatility is driving the markets this week as well. Next portfolio update will be completed by Monday, 3/24.

Dow up 416, we lose money

Yes, we missed the rally yesterday. And we also missed most of the decline. Even after the sharp bounce, the Dow is down for the year while we are up. It'd be nice to win every day, but it's not going to happen. Where to from here? The major averages have traced out what MIGHT be a double bottom pattern, typical of every major bottom since the 1987 crash. Upon confirmation of that, we should see the markets (except the NASDAQ) challenging all time highs.

For now, as always, we let the market tell us what to do next. The systems have worked well in the past and are likely to work well in the future. No need to buy out of panic just like we never sell out of panic.

Portfolio Update - 3/9/08

It seems like we may never buy anything again as stocks continue declining. The model portfolio declined slightly this week as iShares COMEX Gold (IAU), our only ETF, fell a little bit. The asset allocation strategy remains significantly above its moving average and is likely to remain on a buy for at least the next few weeks.

Year to date performance

Since the start of the year, this simple relative strength portfolio has gained about 4.5%. For comparision, over the first two months of 2008, stocks are down 7.5%.

Portfolio Update - 3/2/08

With markets remaining volatile, cash remains a large part of our portfolio. The only ETF we are currently holding is iShares COMEX Gold (IAU), which shows a gain of more than 13% since purchased on 1/7.