There are so many “GURUs” and investment advisors out there, it is most confusing… I have no clue if I am doing right or wrong most of the time. Of all the reading I am doing on investing there seems to be an over abundance of those that are warning against more “down” than “up” to come in the next few years…
Their reasoning is – The charts say so, we can’t keep over spending with out some repercussions, Excessive debt by nations and consumers will force them to all pull back, etc. I happen to agree with some of these but am not sure we are heading for certain doom and another bout of recession but then again, I am not an expert looking at my investing records… I have done ok, at least I have not lost it all but I have not made enough to retire yet either… So what am i focusing on now?
I have pulled away from stocks that do not have solid balances (for the most part) and put most of our funds into stocks paying good dividends, and that have good balances. More of them are solid long-term things that probably will not have spectacular growth but yet, if they are paying 5, 6, 7 or 8% in dividends and do go up a little I am better off for the lower risk they offer. This is especially true if we are in for another test of the lows in the market? I have also gotten more focused on Stop-loss or trailing stops… on the more risky stocks I set them automatic but on the dividend stocks I am listing them but using an approach of watch and see but do not wait, if it even looks bad, dump and hold cash… All that said, I do yet dabble in “hidden-gems” or small stocks that have a great chance to be the next big thing… I base that vision on what they sell, what the general population seems to be buying and is this company just kicking A_ _ on the competition… as well as has it gotten high marks by three different public forums talking stocks… So what am I investing in and what am I watching… you can see that in my list on the Stock and Twits Feed page of this blog…
One look at my list will show I am way over-weight in energy stocks but, since I work in the energy business and know a little about it, I stick more with what I know here and several of those are paying really good returns… I know some will say they are just paying back the invested money, but so what… it is still coming in – the value(price per share) is holding or going up. They have all appreciated since I got in and I have stop-loss limits on most of them if they drop we get out and wait for them to stabilize and get back in… the only big problem is the dam tax stuff of these Limited partner things but I have gotten used to that.
Some are also ETF’s as I didn’t feel safe picking any one company in that industry but feel it will have growth… truth… got in way to early in $FAN and $PHO and lost money on them… dumped the $FAN but holding the $PHO. Also the bottom three ($JCI, $CREE, $ATHR) I do not own and watching them for entry… the $INSM is a holdover from an early thought that the drugs they were developing would be big hits… not so but I have not lost in this yet… seems it spikes to $1.40 yearly and drops to about my entry yearly… so I need to practice, the “get in and get out” or maybe just get out when it is up and use that money for something with a better return…
And that is what and why for my outside the 401K accounts…
In the 401K, I have little choice but have it 45% bonds, 10% small cap, 10% midcap, 5% international, 30% Largecap… If things look better I will double up on the small and midcap… the international – may get a double but right now it looks bad so it is staying small… The increase in stocks will come at the expense of the bonds mostly… but do not expect to leave it at that… actually the current allocation will be my standard for most of the time but shifted according to the conditions. I make adjustment yearly and quarterly when it looks like it is needed.
As I stated at the beginning, my investing has not been stellar so I advise you not fully follow my direction… you could be in for some loss…