A.I.M. Users Bulletin Board

[OldAIMGuy]

Hi Toof, Re: AIM Settings................

As you know, I'm pretty much Set and Forget as far as AIM settings go. I treat most company stocks the same as well as ETFs. The main difference of those two categories is the minimum trade size. I use a smaller (5%) trade for ETFs and larger (10%) for company stocks.

Overall, company stocks only represent maybe 5% of my total portfolio. Most of my assets are in ETFs and CEFs. Stock ETFs differ from Income ETFs and CEFs in trade size sometimes. Many of the income funds I use 10% trade minimums to make the trades meaningful relative to yield.

The only difference between stock ETFs and income funds for me is in how I limit the Cash Reserve. Income funds I set upper limits of 20% or 30% and do 'vealies' after that. Shorter maturity funds get the smaller cash allotment since they don't have much amplitude of price change. Longer maturity funds get the 30% maximum cash as they will, on occasion, dip deeply and spend down the cash. Stock funds follow my market risk indicator's suggested cash level before 'vealies' occur.

Trying to fine tune things looking in the rear view mirror can be frustrating.