Max Money Blog

Stretch your dollar and grow your nest egg.

Archive for the ‘Lazy Portfolios’


First Time Visitor?

All tables updated through Wednesday, November 19, 2008.

Looking to invest and not sure what to buy?

If you are looking for a simple buy and hold portfolio and at-most once a year rebalancing, look no further than these Lazy Portfolios that we have profiled. Their latest performance numbers are here.

That’s it, you are done. You are well ahead of the majority of the money managers and actively managed mutual funds out there.

If you are the adventurous kind, we would recommend putting atleast 80% of your money in one of the Lazy Portfolios. See how you do with remaining maximum of 20% first before you jump with everything into Tactical Asset Allocation.

Now that you are settled with a Lazy Portfolio and are looking for some action…

Start with the Asset Class Strength page. Here you can see the current state of Stocks, Bonds and Commodities. You can also see how they have performed in the recent past.

The Asset Class Strength page will tell you where to put your money today, if at all. If any asset class is ‘red’, it may be best to wait it out for now. Once it enters the yellow zone, start with small percent of your money first and wait a week and see it the trend is building up.

The Asset Class strength page, and related three ETFs, are all that you need to beat the star money managers.

Let’s say you have perused the Asset Class Strength page and now know where to put your money, read on…

  • If you choose to invest in Stocks…
    You can either buy a broad market fund and be done with it. Our ETF rankings and signals page can help you choose any ETF, including one which invests in a broad US Stock market index.

    If you are looking for a particular size fund, as in Large-cap, Mid-cap or Small-cap; or a style fund, as in growth or value; or a combination of size and style, my Style/Size strength page would be an excellent starting point to determine what is in favor. For the Sector investor, there is a page for you too :-). If you are looking to invest outside the united states, you will find the Country strength page very helpful.

    In either case, once you know which narrow asset class you’d like to invest in, you can come back to the ETF rankings page to find that best fund for you.

  • Should you prefer Commodities…
    Your next question should be whether to put the money in Energy, Grains, Livestock, Precious Metals or Industrials. The Commodity Strength page can help you answer that question. Armed with the information, you can view all the Commodity ETFs that maxmoneyblog.com tracks here. You could also get to this page from the main ETF rankings page.
  • Finally, if Bonds fascinate you, our preference is TLT or the 20+ year bond. There is a new Vanguard Long Bond ETF too, but we need to let it build some history first. You will, however,  find lots of arguments in literature against buying the long term bond. But we leave that to you. You can find the bond rankings from the main ETF rankings page.

If there is an ETF that you’d like us to track, do leave a comment, or send an email to info@maxmoneyblog.com.

Disclaimer: ETF rankings and signals are for educational purposes only and should not interpreted as an investment advice.

Lazy PortFolio Performance Update, July 30, 2008

Updated through July 30th, 2008

Portfolio Name Stocks Pct. Correlation to SP500 Standard Deviation One Month Return Three Months Return Six Months Return One Year Return Two Year Return Five Year Return Six Month Max Draw-Down
Six Ways From Sunday 67% 0.80 4.14 -3.91% -5.50% 3.05% 3.21% 17.13% 105.12% -12.56%
Ted Aronson 80% 0.92 4.46 -1.46% -7.43% -1.91% -5.40% 17.41% 95.93% -14.08%
David Swenson 70% 0.96 4.69 0.20% -6.14% -1.09% -3.53% 9.05% 72.22% -13.03%
Merriman 60% 0.95 3.70 -0.30% -6.07% -1.49% -4.05% 11.76% 71.41% -11.82%
Margritaville 67% 0.91 3.48 -1.24% -6.10% -2.47% -4.64% 12.17% 68.62% -11.48%
Five Fold 60% 0.93 4.10 0.37% -5.57% -0.54% -1.67% 9.03% 68.50% -11.49%
Second Graders 90% 0.97 4.68 -0.82% -7.21% -3.17% -8.30% 9.36% 66.67% -14.19%
Four Square 50% 0.83 2.63 -0.90% -5.26% -1.74% -1.48% 13.60% 62.21% -9.00%
Bernstein No Brainer 75% 0.96 4.20 -0.13% -5.73% -1.97% -7.08% 8.71% 61.10% -12.63%
Bernstein SmartMoney 60% 0.97 3.99 0.21% -5.34% -1.83% -5.55% 7.72% 56.40% -11.76%
Bill Schultheis Coffeehouse 60% 0.96 4.23 0.87% -4.99% -1.35% -4.94% 5.37% 53.57% -11.66%
Couch Potato 50% 0.95 2.53 -0.24% -2.83% -1.40% -0.52% 10.50% 43.26% -7.09%
SP 500 100% 1.00 5.58 0.33% -7.31% -5.28% -11.75% 0.45% 29.82% -14.84%

 

Lazy Portfolio Return Bar Charts

Three Months Return One Year Return Five Year Return
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Important observations:

Higher the percentage of stocks you have in a lazy portfolio, higher is your portfolio’s standard deviation.

All of the lazy portfolios cited above beat S&P 500 index in every timeframe beyond six months.

Not only that,  but they also get you there with a lower draw-down i.e. fall off the peak.  

ETF Rankings and Signals, July 30th 2008

Note: ETF rankings and signals are for educational purposes only and should not interpreted as an investment advice.
 

Exchange Traded Fund Rankings

Top Performing ETFs

US Stock Size/Style Funds International Stock Developed Markets Stock Emerging Markets Stock
Sector Funds Pacific Developed Markets Emerging Asia Latin America
Bond ETFs European Stock Middle East and Africa Miscellaneous

ETF Rankings and Signals July 20th, 2008

Note: ETF rankings and signals are for educational purposes only and should not interpreted as an investment advice.
 

Exchange Traded Fund Rankings

Top Performing ETFs

US Stock Size/Style Funds International Stock Developed Markets Stock Emerging Markets Stock
Sector Funds Pacific Developed Markets Emerging Asia Latin America
Bond ETFs European Stock Middle East and Africa Miscellaneous

Lazy PortFolio Performance Update, July 20, 2008


Numbers updated through July 18, 2008

 

Portfolio Name Stocks Pct. Correlation to SP500 Standard Deviation One Month Return Three Months Return Six Months Return One Year Return Two Year Return Five Year Return Six Month Max Draw-Down
Six Ways From Sunday 67% 0.83 4.48 -6.46% -6.92% 4.18% -3.32% 20.30% 105.09% -11.94%
Ted Aronson 80% 0.92 5.13 -6.62% -8.36% -3.07% -11.03% 21.00% 95.14% -14.08%
Merriman 60% 0.94 4.08 -4.19% -7.16% -1.63% -9.32% 14.96% 70.94% -11.82%
David Swenson 70% 0.96 4.88 -4.26% -7.71% -0.75% -10.01% 11.36% 70.23% -13.03%
Margritaville 67% 0.92 4.01 -4.35% -6.85% -2.56% -9.21% 16.34% 68.64% -11.48%
Five Fold 60% 0.94 4.20 -3.24% -7.00% 0.43% -7.62% 11.73% 68.35% -11.49%
Second Graders 90% 0.97 5.21 -5.78% -8.43% -3.64% -14.50% 12.79% 66.86% -14.19%
Four Square 50% 0.85 2.99 -3.02% -5.89% -1.56% -5.17% 17.59% 62.90% -9.00%
Bernstein No Brainer 75% 0.96 4.66 -4.76% -7.07% -2.31% -13.44% 11.51% 61.22% -12.63%
Bernstein SmartMoney 60% 0.97 4.26 -4.53% -6.61% -1.87% -11.39% 9.35% 55.44% -11.76%
Bill Schultheis Coffeehouse 60% 0.97 4.37 -4.11% -6.64% -1.10% -11.55% 6.52% 51.50% -11.66%
Couch Potato 50% 0.95 2.84 -2.67% -4.00% -0.73% -4.55% 12.25% 41.23% -7.06%
SP 500 100% 1.00 5.99 -5.77% -9.33% -5.44% -18.83% 1.93% 28.41% -14.84%

 

Lazy Portfolio Return Bar Charts

Three Months Return One Year Return Five Year Return
image image image

 

 

 

Important observations:

Higher the percentage of stocks you have in a lazy portfolio, higher is your portfolio’s standard deviation.

All of the lazy portfolios cited above beat S&P 500 index in every timeframe beyond one month.

Not only that,  but they also get you there with a lower draw-down i.e. fall off the peak.  

What else would you like to see here?

ETF Rankings and Signals July 13, 2008

Note: ETF rankings and signals are for educational purposes only and should not interpreted as an investment advice.
 

Exchange Traded Fund Rankings

Overall Top Performers

US Stock Size/Style Funds International Stock Developed Markets Stock Emerging Markets Stock
Sector Funds Pacific Developed Markets Emerging Asia Latin America
Bond ETFs European Stock Middle East and Africa Miscellaneous

Sector Summary July 8, 2008


Sector Return Bar Charts

Today’s Change One Month Return Six Month Return
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Sector Summary July 7, 2008


Sector Return Bar Charts

Today’s Change One Month Return Six Month Return
image image image

 

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ETF Rankings and Signals July 06, 2008

Note: ETF rankings and signals are for educational purposes only and should not interpreted as an investment advice.
 

Exchange Traded Fund Rankings

Overall Top Performers

US Stock Size/Style Funds International Stock Developed Markets Stock Emerging Markets Stock
Sector Funds Pacific Developed Markets Emerging Asia Latin America
Bond ETFs European Stock Middle East and Africa Miscellaneous

Sector Summary July 1st 2008



Index Close Today’s Change One Week Return One Month Return Three Months Return Six Months Return One Year Return
Basic Materials 83.60 -1.03% -2.81% -2.34% 9.41% 9.22% 18.69%
Consumer Discretionary 28.12 -1.26% -4.94% -11.77% -12.07% -13.58% -27.87%
Consumer Staples 26.72 -0.11% -1.29% -4.97% -4.87% -6.32% -0.02%
Energy 152.61 0.74% 1.71% 2.86% 15.25% 11.94% 26.52%
Financials 68.54 0.96% -5.75% -15.15% -20.78% -26.31% -39.70%
Health Care 62.02 0.67% 0.93% -2.97% -2.28% -11.60% -10.65%
Industrials 64.49 0.05% -3.56% -9.98% -8.37% -10.85% -12.05%
Metals Mining 92.90 -1.78% 1.19% 3.67% 28.05% 34.66% 46.01%
Real Estate 75.03 -0.15% -2.86% -9.41% -10.73% -3.26% -15.93%
Technology 54.35 0.30% -3.25% -7.90% 0.32% -12.81% -8.85%
Telecom 23.84 -1.04% -1.75% -9.87% 0.18% -18.15% -28.92%
Transports 86.86 -1.66% -2.80% -9.46% -2.60% 7.41% -4.82%
Utilities 99.67 0.57% -0.13% 0.26% 5.90% -1.37% 4.14%

 

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