| 11/06/2009
Dow 10,000... This time around we're sitting in cash.
We moved a large portion of our 401k into cash in late October. Our current asset allocation:
37% Cash
21% Bonds
42% Stocks
We feel that the current market rally has run a little too far. While we're happy with the results, we question the market's ability to charge higher after rising 60% over the past 8 months. We look back to the 73 - 74 Bear Market, which experienced a similar rally of 66% before going the other way, as a reason for caution.
We have decided to take a defensive position for the time being, moving a sizable portion of our holdings into cash equivalents. Our net worth has risen an incredible $136k in 8 months, it's time to lock some of that gain in.
We are 14k behind KTID at the moment, but we are still shelling out a steady flow of cash on home repairs. It's going to be tough to catch him.
11/07/2009
I just went back over some of my older entries and realized that this month our net worth hit a new high. Our prior high was $407k, which was attained in October 2007.
My entry on that date: "10/05/2007 - Beginning of a Bear Market"
It has taken the sale of a house with $70k in profits, and $40k in contributions to our retirement plans to get back to this point. This is a clear lesson in how brutal Bear Markets are. The market is still down 40% from the highs put in back in October 2007.
11/17/2009
Spending money like water.
Boiler Repairs - $400
Painting - $900
MRI - $100
Dentist - $500
Siding Work - $1,850
11/30/2009
Most of the expenses listed above have been paid for. We have cashed out some bonds to pay for the siding work, which should be getting underway in the next week or two. We have only two or three other major home improvement projects left - these should all take place in 2010.
The market looks to have leveled off for the moment. But listening to Art Cashin, he is warning more and more that a spike in the dollar could have devastating consequences for the market. He says a one day drop off 1000 points is not out of the question if the dollar were to be pushed up by some kind of geopolitical event.
We'll cross our fingers and hope this doesn't happen, but if it does our current asset allocation should soften the blow. |