Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Glad to help. I see your choices have been for fairly largecap safer stocks - nothing wrong with that for part of your portfolio.
Amazon's been okay:
The other two, not so much, at least from an AIM perspective.
You might want to play with the free stock screener on Yahoo finance. Select stocks with beta >1.5, good institutional ownership, decent trading volume, making money and that should give you a list to cull from with stocks that may be more AIM friendly. Another aspect to consider is price. It only takes a $3 move to go from $7 to $10, $30 to go from $70 to $100. So you may want to considering adding a few lower priced shares as these may be more volatile and therefore AIM friendly.
Best,
AIMster
I have a investment software program from Aptus Communications located in BC (Canada) called Automatic Investor. This is the same concept as A.I.M., right? Is everyone here using this software?
Yes, AI allows you to automate AIM as well as add quite a bit of customizations. I wouldn't say everyone's using it, but a fair number of people who post here are. If you've any questions feel free to ask, and you should also know there's a board in the AIM section on iHub for AI specifically.
Best,
AIMster
My problem is I just established my AIM account about a month ago using American Century's Vista with a 50% cash reserve. However, your instructions were to sell up to the 50% level in bullish times. But what if you started out at the 50% level,as I did, and you get a market order to sell stock which would raise my cash above 50%.
The point to note is starting cash reserve amount. This is a level at which you feel is prudent to have in reserve, looking at what's likely to happen to the market going forward. Since none of us have a crystal ball that can pinpoint the levels we need exactly, we take a best guess, using, as Tom mentioned, the type of holding you've got, looking at historical highs-and-lows of price ranges to get a sense of how volatile the holding is. The rule of thumb generally here is the more volatility, the more likely you'll need a larger cash reserve. Holdings that trend in a slower rate can get by with a more modest starting amount.
Once you've turned the system on then, so to speak, if it starts giving sell signals, you can either follow them, increasing the cash reserve level, or as I mentioned previously, pull a Vealie if you feel that going over 50% cash reserve is not an appropriate thing to do with this particular holding.
This shows us that until the recent market "swoon" this fund was mainly doing sideways trading, which could mean you could likely get by with a lower than 50% cash reserve. AIM-HI, Lichello's later 80/20 with the 20% cash reserve might be too bold, the moderate 67/33 rate might be better. Of course, since it's still fairly close to the low of $9.14, the question becomes "how low can it go" from here? In the book, Lichello speaks of Twentieth Century investors and Jim Stowers, founder of the firm looking for stocks that act as "tennis balls rather than chicken eggs." Meaning stocks that will bounce back up after a rebound starts. American Century was Twentieth Century back... when it was the 20th century!
So, in terms of direct advice, especially if this is in a tax-free account, take the sale, might as well profit from the market's move, then when it goes back down again on the future instability we're likely to get before all is said and done, invest more of your 50% cash reserve down to a lower level. Increase Portfolio Control by 100% to account for the new cash you've put in, then just let the system work itself from there.
Best,
AIMster
I recently opened an AIM portfolio using the 50% cash reserve method. My fund has been going up. Do I ignore a market order to sell stock as long as I already have a 50% cash reserve?
If the answer is yes, won't I be missing out on a lot of cash eventually?
I probably am missing something.
Hello! Glad to have you here. Good that you've got the system working for you and given where we are right now, Lichello's original formula is not an unreasonable choice. Of course, there are those who favor using a current market mettric like the V-wave to set up the initial AIM cash reserve level, rather than a specific default level, per se. Keep in mind that going "by-the-book" is an acceptable practice.
Given how toward oversold the market's been, some movement toward "up" is not surprising. Regulation of the cash reserve (in both directions) is one of the key issues in AIM type strategies. Some other users once upon a time came up with the concept of a "Vealie" named for our moderator. A detailed explanation can be found here: http://www.gsnindia.com/Help/Vealie.htm So the choice in an upmove is to follow AIM's guidelines and sell as directed, or pull the Vealie and defer that particular sale. Other sales will likely follow in the future. Of course, with the present market uncertainty, having at least 50% cash reserve to start will give you a fairly good cushion to work with.
Hope this additional info helps - if you have any more questions, please post them!
Best,
AIMster
Anybody know of a (preferably) closed-end fund or mutual fund that would mimic the EAFE (EFA)? With the way share prices have been beaten down lately I'd like to get a program going for less than the $43 per share price of EFA.
Thanks!
Best,
AIMster
Does the Santa Claus Rally start tomorow?
One may hope. On the other hand, we could well have a "Santa Claws" situation too. I suspect there are going to be a lot of people selling off to book losses for the year. The $3k/year maximum has been the maximum for a long time. Given the downdraft of this year, you'd think they'd raise it.
Stay tuned!
Best,
AIMster
* = <OT> if a company is "too big to fail", doesn't the prospect for its failure constitute a threat to the economic stability of the Individuals dependent upon it (directly or indirectly)? If so, would the break up (a la AT&T) of said company not constitute a necessary move to ensure the economic well-being, security, and safety of Others? In short, if a company is "too big to fail", is it also "too big to be allowed to exist"?
Interesting point. If one were to "design" an optimum economy I suppose such safeguards could (theoretically) be put in place. However, the current situation of the "big 3" being so disproportionate to the overall size of the economy, hence in a "de facto" sense becoming "too big" is due in large measure to the shrinkage of the rest of the manufacturing base. If autos were once upon a time 25% of the manufactured goods in the US, now they're, say, 75%, well, there you are then.
So if we let them "fail" as seems to be the current idea, then we will become an even more service oriented and a less self-sufficient economy, able to provide for our domestic needs largely through internal manufacturing. Not that we need the extremist "juche" self-sufficient model of North Korea, that's way too extreme in the other direction! On the other hand, if a controlled failure, aka Chapter 11 bankruptcy, forces the changes to their business model that brings forth a newer technology vehicle in a reconsitituted and/or possibly consolidated firms, the long run may be worth the pain. The only issue is that no one can say how long the "long run" will be.
Having automobile prices at the same dollar level that could buy a whole house a generation ago doesn't help either. About as dramatic a demonstration of the insidious effect of inflation if you ever want to see one!
Best,
AIMster
Somewhat <OT>
From a story on cholera in Zimbabwe. We spoke some time ago about their currency devaluation, now the inflation rate is off the charts!
Inflation officially hit 231 million percent in July, but John Robertson, an independent economist in Zimbabwe, estimates that it has now surged to an astounding eight quintillion percent -- that is an eight followed by 18 zeros.
Whole story here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/world/africa/12cholera.html?em=&pagewanted=all
NEW YORK, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The arrest of investment manager Bernard Madoff on charges of running a $50 billion "Ponzi scheme" may be only the beginning of the legal saga involving the Wall Street veteran.
GREAT news here! (NOT)! But for the amount of money involved he could have single-handedly bailed out the auto industry twice from their original request. Talk about the emotions of fear and GREED influencing one's investment choices! And one wonders for the amount of hubris and stupidity that Mr. Madoff must have felt in thinking he wouldn't get caught. And for bail he's put up his $10 million apartment! If he goes to jail he will feel some serious downsizing!
What's next? Or should I even tempt the Fates by asking the question?
One possible contenda that's floated across for consideration is Steris Corp. (STE).
Specialists in disinfection and sterilization they've roots going back to 1894, 5,300 employees and are ranked in the S&P 400 MidCap companies. In a market that's not likely to go away anytime soon, they may be of some interest, or at least a further look.
Best,
AIMster
While with our AIM we're good at avoiding the herd mentality, we still think like the herd and set up our programs according to what's been happening during our experience. I think Lichello faced this as he readjusted his cash percentage as well. I know it happened to me, as I used a very low cash reserves suitable for the market rise the last several years. When the bear hit my retirement account seized with lack of cash.
Hi, Adam,
Point duly noted. I think, though, part of the resistance to carrying a larger cash balance has been the drop in what you can earn on the cash as it "sits there" waiting to be used again. In Lichello's book 5.25% was a common rate which on a reasonably hefty balance might generate a few dollars a month. Not great, but at least something visible. Now you get relatively a few cents worth. So, psychologically, it seems like you're losing more since you don't have the same level of income to show for it. Nevermind the hyperinflation ticking "bomb" in the corner that gets more and more priming as the government gives out more and more bailout money. Talk about a bursting bubble! Unless they deflate this one right the dotcom and housing mess will have been only the prelude.
Your friendly Monday morning reporter of comfort and encouragement (HA!),
Best,
AIMster
ETF word to the wise
Through from an AIMish perspective it looks interesting:
I wouldn't bet the farm with it, but it might add a bit of volatility...
Best,
AIMster
just finished my trial with AIM and have decided to use it on my wife's IRA. I am thinking of using SPY as the fund. What are some recommendations for the configuration based on today's market?
Glad to see the program working for you. Mark's put a lot into it. Whilst SPY is a broad choice, you should also consider RSP. SPY uses a cap-weighted model for asset allocation, whereas RSP uses an equal-amount per holding. Thus a GE gets no more weighting than a far smaller firm dies. Being a very broad representation these funds aren't as volatile, meaning less trades.
Best,
AIMster
Another idea for an indicator came to mind if it's not already being done is on the order of this:
note the daily up, down and unchanged issues on the NYSE and/or NASDAQ, plotting these over time should give a sense of both direction and correlation of market sentiment. Not sure how easy it would be to get this on a historical basis for plotting a chart, but might be of some use.
Best,
AIMster
<OT>
Copied from another board - Funny!
THIS APPEARED ON CRAIG'S LIST
Funny, in one sense, tragic in another.
Sounds like too many are looking for things too superficial. Talk about a "meat market" mentality - geeze. Sounds like the girl was spoiled growing up to focus only on the material - and sadly the guy who responded isn't much better. If this is what our culture is coming to we're doomed.
Best,
AIMster
Hi, Tom,
Regarding the IYY/RMT, EFA/EMF pairs, I went out to stockcharts and ran 'em through the ol' performance chart. Stretch the time totally out and EMF was the best performer. Until recently. Looking at a shorter scale, the diversification benefit started to be erased last Spring going into early Summer and the four are now in fairly close lockstep.
See: http://stockcharts.com/charts/performance/perf.html?IYY,rmt,efa,emf
Which begs the interesitng idea if there isn't some sort of diversification/correlation metric that should be considered as a factor in our various programs. I suppose it would be if there's a great(er) amount of diversification in the market as a whole, of which these funds are loose proxies, (many stocks 'zigging' as others are 'zagging') then the benefit leans toward a diversified Buy & Hold type. On the other hand, increased correlation means greater volatility as we've seen the last few months - an environment ideal for AIM - as long as we've the cash reserves to ride the "roller coaster." Wheeeeeeee! I know the VIX speaks to some of this, perhaps all of it, but the idea lit the "idea bulb" above my head so I thought it worth sharing.
Best,
AIMster
I've thought over the years that a model of a "total market" AIM program would be as good a barometer as one could hope to devise. Since AIM follows the trend and doesn't attempt to predict, it would give a very good overall view of conditions just in its Equity/Cash ratio.
Hi, Tom,
A simple two-model system might be to have
IYY - iShares Total Market fund paired with
RMT - Royce Microcap Trust
That should give about as broad-spectrum a view of the US market as one could desire.
The second would be:
EFA - Europe, Far East and Australia paired with
EMF - Templeton Emerging Markets fund
That should give you a fairly comprehensive view of foreign holdings as well.
Those two sets should act as fairly broad barometers.
Best,
AIMster
But what happens over the next couple weeks. Our emotions want instant success. We are unwilling to tolerate a series of losing trades. All systems eventually have a string of losing trades and a draw down in equity. Such is part of the statistical results buried somewhere in those beautiful graphs of wealth accumulation. However, a graph of past performance is emotionless. The real thing, with my money on the line, is 100% emotion. When I am ahead I am elated at how easy it is. When I am behind, I start to second guess every signal and think I am smarter than the system, and I can improve on the trading system by applying my experience. Surely I am aware of intangibles the system failed to consider. For example, does the trading system know what is the correct thing to do when the news is showing horrifying pictures of planes flying into tall buildings, or war has broken out in the Middle East, or the dock workers have decided to go on strike, or Greenspan is speaking before Congress? Suddenly we convince ourselves we know more than the Holy Grail system, and we abandon it as we seek a place of greater personal comfort.
Well said, Tim,
I suppose AIM, when applied to a whole portfolio model, as was Lichello's original design, created a "prius" type system, i.e., a hybrid that would have a mechanical aspect calculate the buy-and-sell recommendations, but these could then be tempered by the application of human judgement. This allows a more holistic approach to investing as you, managing the portfolio, decide which of the holdings should be bought or sold.
Computers would in effect have to become more self aware as in the movie "Colossus: the Forbin Project" in order to understand the meanings of external events relative to their impact on the market. With our luck we'd end up more with the psychotic HAL-9000 from 2001: "There's a problem with this investment, Dave. All the returns are going negative. We should probably sell now..."
Best,
AIMster
If one uses AIM in a bear market in the "long stock" style, then one has to hedge to protect against losses or suffer thru periods of decline and wait for an eventual sustained rebound. Clive has hedged his positions with managed futures to protect against losses. I use options. Either way, one manages the risk so one never losses extraordinary amounts of capital for the equity warehouse.
The technique I'm on is to keep a fixed ratio 90% invested to 10% cash reserve. Adjustments in both directions at a 1% offset from a 10% "dead center" allow sales or purchases as we go along. Cash reserve is increased by both dividends and savings. As the portfolio rises in value the size of the trade will increase, similar to portfolio control, in the decline the trade size has reduced so it self-scales to the market. Also never totally runs out of cash. Simple, easy to calculate and self-regulating.
Best,
AIMster
Iread today that, for 2008, the Merriam Webster's word of the year is "Bailout". What is the likely impact of the massive bailouts on the value of the USD? Bailing out at a personal level, in order to protect your capital from a likely downdraft in the USD, is not a bad idea to consider.
One place people might find of some interest in that regard is St. Louis based Everbank, http://www.everbank.com - under the "products" dropdown menu, select "foreign currencies" to see a list of their offerings in this regard.
Best,
AIMster
<OT>
Hi Tom, Goodies?
I could use a new King Cobra Gap wedge. I'd hate to be too specific though :) Looks like Aimster took the cake again. Ken
Well, with the NEXT grub being 30,000, perhaps hitting an even multiple of 10,000 will warrant a bigger goodie. Like they say for the NY Lottery, "hey, you never know."
Good luck,
Best,
AIMster
Looks like we had similar results, the forward tests(real money) never came close to the backwards tests.
Similar to what I found with VectorVest also - hindsight's 20/20 and cherry picking's a breeze. A crystal ball that's only got a rear-view mirror doesn't work too well.
I've got to put it back in this weekend, but I'd have to find away to download data wouldn't I?
Enjoy the nostalgia trip and yes, getting current data is a small detail there, isn't it?
Best,
AIMster
What light through yonder window breaks? A new dawn?
Not at 3 AM, stupid. Not at least this time of year in these climes!
A streetlight then, or perhaps a passing car.
Perhaps.
Or no, dear friend, not any such as these at all!
No, rather it's the flash of light against the passing bird!
Passing bird?
Yes indeed!! For it is indeed the early bird that gets the worm, or in this case:
THE GRUB!!!!
What light through yonder window breaks? A new dawn?
Not at 3 AM, stupid. Not at least this time of year in these climes!
A streetlight then, or perhaps a passing car.
I once dabbled with the Nirvanna System years ago
Ah yes, the ultimate holy grail quest for a self-tuning system. I'm still on their mailing list. Like you I didn't find the results of their system so stellar as to be worth the $$$$ they charge. I suppose it may have more of a fighting chance if married to a better management system like AIM, but since AIM only costs a paltry $6.99 for a new copy of the book and likely less for a used copy, and will manage the risk part for you, why spend the beaucoup bucks for all those fancy red and green arrows that end up being so much "eye candy?" I've often wondered how much money do the people who create these systems, especially ones that you have to keep buying into either through massive updates or worse a monthly subscription for a proprietary data feed actually make by actually using their system, or do they make their real money in selling these to the public and keeping them "hooked" on it as long as possible?
Best,
AIMster
However, in light of current market conditions, the Funds anticipate that a substantial portion of the November and December distributions will be a return of capital.
Not the best of distributions, but I'll take a return of capital over the horrendous capital losses the market's punished these funds with!
Best,
AIMster
What does anyone think about a 3x ETF as an AIM investment. I know AIM likes volatility but will these ETFs be too volatile?
Welcome! We seem to be attracting new users lately & that's a good thing. We all benefit from each other's insights and questions.
To get to your specific answer - it depends. What you're getting along with the investment is extra leverage. As we've seen of the market lately, leverage is indeed a two-edged sword and will work against you with the same ferocity it can work with you. That being said, how much lower can the market go - still quite a bit, especially with these sighs-of-relief rallies when the government gets in there and does something. The nagging fear is that at some point the collective "light bulb" above our heads will come on that there will be waaay too many trillions of dollars chasing around that the value of each will become more worthless than they already are, igniting inflation bigtime. But that scenario is still in the future.
So, if you want to play one of these it might be doable - though you may want to keep a fairly large cash reserve handy...
Best,
AIMster
Hi, Sidhe,
Welcome.
I am going to be a new AIM user and have read many of the posts on the AIM boards. I am so very happy to have found you. You have certainly taken AIM in many new directions and have added on so many new and exciting features. I just have to understand them all.
Don't let the amount of variation seem too overwhelming. At the most basic level, AIM can be defined as a contrarian strategy that seeks to realize the goal of the investment maxim, "buy low and sell high." In order to get to this goal, it suggests that we split our initial investment total into two piles, one that's initially invested, and one that's held as a cash reserve, to be used to buy more as a given item declines, with the eventual expectation of taking profit when the item again increases in price, which is the long term historical norm. It's the cycling between the amount of cash invested or held in reserve, that runs the AIM "engine" of volatility capture.
Your choice to use ETF's (or CEF's - closed-end funds) rather than individual stocks is a prudent one, especially given the current financial uncertainty. http://www.etfconnect.com is a good resource for selecting these, also http://www.ishares.com will give you good info on the iShares ETF's, some of the most popular, and therefore well traded.
Two other things to be mindful of are: 1) how much does it cost for you to play in the game? That is, how much will you be paying in commissions and for a minimum amount at a brokerage? Several of us use http://www.foliofn.com which is a broker that allows commission-free "window" trades for a flat fee of $290/year. No minimum trade size nor account size. You'd need to see if that would be more cost efficient than a per trade rate elsewhere. 2) ETF's and CEF's will have expense rates, usually listed in the bottom right of a page on an etfconnect summary. The general rule of thumb, the lower the expense rate, the more money works for you. One can find some pretty narrowly focused funds, for example, Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund (CUBA), but with a 2.74% expense ratio, never mind trading at a 6.12% premium!! I don't think so!
In terms of starting now, or later, you're certainly better off starting now than say a year ago where you'd be sitting on some pretty serious losses! Can it go lower, yes. A lot will depend upon how well we get ourselves back on a positive economic path rather than down further into the well. This is why having the cash reserve lets us plan better for a down trend rather than the person who's 100% in, 100% of the time and can only watch as his knuckles turn white as the free-fall of late drops with the certainty and speed of the anvil about to land on Wile E. Coyote in a Road Runner cartoon. We'll need some good product from "Acme Labs" to get us out of this one!
More questions, do let us know.
Best,
AIMster
Thanks for the explanation. Futures, managed or not, is all new to me. It is also very interesting.
The closest analogy for futures for those of us more versed in the stock market would be options. Except that in some cases there's real stuff, agricultural, fuel, metals behind some of them. Like options, futures have expiration dates and they can be worked either long or short adding the impact of leverage to one's investment, which as we've seen lately can work against you with the same ferocity as it can work for you. One needs to be sure to close out of a position before the expiration, lest you find a whole lot of pork bellies, for example, showing up at your door, with the bill for same attached. Not exactly the way you really want to bring home the bacon!
Best,
AIMster
NRO's been tanking, SRO's been in free-fall. A good test of the intestinal fortitude! Or do we bail getting .56 cents on the dollar in the latter case, or try and ride it out? Difficult times indeed! But so potentially profitable if they will bounce back!
Quick question. Within my 401K, can the AI software keep track of several different investments under the umbrella...
AI allows you a good bit of configuration options, all depending on what you want to do. Lichello, doing his development in pre-computer time, at least as far as "ordinary" people had access to, opted for as simple a model as possible. All stock holdings in one portfolio, calculate the total result each time and work from there. AI can handle this mode no problem. The advantage (or problem, depending on one's point of view) is that such a model allows you to decide which of the holdings in the portfolio you wish to buy or sell, as AIM gives the recommendation.
One drawback to that idea is that you in effect create your own mini mutual fund and it will trade (in theory) less often than if you were tracking each component separately would. This due to stocks moving up (remember those?) cancelling out the down movement of the others.
So, some people opt to track and handle each stock or fund by itself. If you've a small number of these, that should work okay. The issue here is that if you're striving for an overall allocation balance between them, you may need to do some adjustment from time-to-time as treating each as a single item will favor those with the most volatility to grow faster than those with less. With the configurability in AI you could have each running on it's own set of parameters, a slow index fund may be better at an AIM-HI 80/20 ratio, whereas an oil service company may benefit from a classic 50/50 ratio.
A third possiblility is to group like funds together in a mini-portfolio and trade individual stocks individually. If you've got for example, 3 real estate holdings, you may want to track them as a group to decide which to buy or sell, rather than having to deal with three individually.
Not to say that any one method is more right or wrong than any other. But you do have a lot of flexibility, that's for sure.
Best,
AIMster
Welcome!
2. Software recommendations for AIM? I've downloaded the 10 day trial of the Automatic investor. Tom, I had your software 10 years ago and liked it. Is it still available?
I'll let others more familiar (TooFuzzy, perhaps(?)) to answer your first question as there may be tax implications he may be better able to speak to.
The software you're likely thinking of is Newport and no, it hasn't been available for quite some time. Several of us are using AI since Newport hasn't been an option. Of course, you don't really need software to use AIM if your needs are pretty basic. Pencil and paper will do, or a spreadsheet is adequate. Also TooFuzzy's provided an online calculator as well off of Tom's website - see: http://www.aim-users.com/calculator.htm
Any more questions, please feel free to ask!
Best,
AIMster
Well the take-it-on-the-chin report this morning shows that the portfolio value now is back to where it was in the summer of 2005, effectively erasing all the money I've added to the pot since then. Of course, these are just paper losses. The dividend yield's going wild at now 14.25% so I theoretically should be getting some additional incoming cash to keep the funding going.
What a ride.
Well, it's starting to feel like not only has someone pushed the "DOWN" button in the market elevator, but we're breaking through to basement sublevels not seen in a long time! Starting to feel like they're going to start a limbo dance, "how low can we go?"
I keep telling myself "buying opportunity, buying opportunity!"
The only solace in this quantum of a mess is the dividend yield pushing 14% Whether the funds that purport to offer such will be here for the duration remains to be seen, but on paper it gives some small (very small) comfort.
Best,
AIMster
The important lesson from any investment plan: don't lose money!
Hmm, is there a way to not lose money in this market?
In the short term, probably not, but just as Lichello described Warren Buffet feeling like an "oversexed guy in a harem" during the bottom of the 1973-1974 bear, in the long run this time may also come do be seen as one of the best buying periods of the 21st century. We just have to make it long enough to profit from the rebound. Small detail there, I realize, but what's the alternative?
Best,
AIMster
Individual stocks versus ETFs
I think some of us have made the move you're pondering right now for largely the same reasons. The risk between an ETF or CEF going "bye-bye" as it were should hopefully be far less than that of a single company. With that extra margin of perceived safety comes the fact that the potential for reward may be less, at least from a volatility capture mechanism such as AIM or variants thereto.
Of all the benefits they could do for US taxpayers might be to up the amount of deductible losses one can take from one's taxes (assuming a taxable account). I think it's been "stuck" at $3000 for a long time. I think this year and going forward to $5000 might well make more sense.
That aside, depending on where your holdings are, it might be worth at least reviewing which stocks are stronger or weaker, then maybe look to remove the weakest from the list first into some fund, letting the stronger ride it out more for now. The important lesson from any investment plan: don't lose money! But if you must, minimize the loss!
Best,
AIMster
<OT>
Well, if we're trending just a wee bit into politics and reactions thereto, my own proverbial 2 cents' worth:
Columnist Charles Blow wrote his reaction:
http://blow.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/people-wept/
Then I wrote mine in part to his column, in part to the history being made around us!
We can still believe in miracles. We can still believe in hope. We can still believe that humanity can call forth our better nature, that we can become those people that the Scriptures of all our traditions say that we can, say that we must become.
If one generation not so long ago has been called "the greatest," and indeed their stand for liberty merits such designation, here today we have a new contender for the title. Today we've earned the right to compete for the title. How we grow, how we honor the trust, how we change, will prove in the future whether or not we can claim it.
As much as President-elect Obama is the result of hope, of dreams, of miracles, he is there for at least as much, if not more so the result of hard work, of dedication, of the commitments of time, money, energy by many Americans who together took the spirit of "we shall overcome" and rendered the verdict, "Yes, we can."
Savor this moment. Note it well as what hopefully will be a watershed in our national discourse and for the benefit of the world. And when the body is tired from crying, when the body is exhausted from hollering and shouting praise of gratitude for what seemed so long to be impossible, pause in the silence. That place of dreams where all things have form that can be given life on this physical plane.
Then roll up the sleeves, we all have a lot of work to do! But let us do so looking at each other equally in the eye, looking to make real all the promise that this moment carries with it. The dawn of the new day is here. Smile.
Best,
AIMster
P.S. I do feel sympathy for Sarah Palin who must have felt for all the world like a modern day real-life rendition of Cinderella. She was lifted from relative obscurity to be feted on the national stage, adorned in clothes and attention far beyond her normal means, only to find that midnight has come all too quickly: the fine carriage is once again a pumpkin, the noble steeds reduced to mice, the spotlight fading to black. Somehow I doubt her story ends here, though...
If you're in a position to reinvest dividends then a method that works reasonably well is to be 100% in stock and rebalance at the individual stock/fund level.
Hi, Clive,
Thanks for bringing up the point. Foliofn shows the weight of each holding in the portfolio based on current dollar value. So, yes, the goal is to keep each at approximate equal weighting, allowing rebalancing as the cycles progress.
Best,
AIMster
P.S. You mentioned the idea of wanting a similar service for the U.K. I believe they license their technology - their mail address is here should you wish to post them:
Corporate Headquarters
FOLIOfn, Inc.
8000 Towers Crescent Drive, Suite 1500
Vienna, VA 22182
or http://www.foliofn.com
Not sure if they take international customers or not, but you might want to check!
<OT> SportsNote
t will be entertaining for everyone if the Jets play the Packers at the SuperBowl!!!
Now THAT would play with the emotions, wouldn't it? Talk about being pulled in two directions at once!
1) I will AIM them seperately
Hi, Toof,
As I recall, one of the main arguments against inverse funds was the long term overall bias of the market to go up, making such investing (AIMed or otherwise) inefficient. Certainly they would work well in the (hopefully) short term swings like we're going through, but I'm not sure how they'd hold up for you in the long run!
Best,
AIMster