Last week was a bit of a rough one... the market closed off approximately 700 points for the week... not too bad judging that on one day alone, it was down over 900 points. Now, I can understand paranoia about he nanny state I mean socialist state of weak Eurozone countries like Spain (Unemployment over 20%), Portugal (debt to GDP a staggering 340%), and of course the weak man of Europe Greece where there is rioting and blood in the streets... any one of these in of itself could cause a market meltdown. However, I must admit that I feel much less comfortable in a market where someone can allegedly press a wrong button, which triggers a massive market sell-off. (Click Here)
I booked profits on a portion of NEOP... and booked a minor loss on VGPMX and will look to enter one or both of these positions when the dust starts to settle. I may even hit FAS or something of that nature knowing that the financial over-haul is getting sliced and diced faster than I can type this blog entry.
Investment Strategy
I will more than likely begin a ROTH IRA this week. I will still continue a minor contribution to our deferred comp program. However, I do not like the wide-ranging scope of mutual funds or indexes for that matter... at least on the upside. Once the ROTH is funded, I will have the flexibility of moving, and trading with or against the market. Quite simply, it is open to any and every investment vehicle known to man... and I do not have to play by the rules of a mutual fund company. What I have in deferred comp and 403b will stay there, but his is definitely my exit from a world which I have little to no control of... Give me the pin-point accuracy of a stock any day over this nonsense...
Housing Market
We had a bit of luck over the past couple of weeks. We were able to sell our home, and successfully bid on a new home. We are looking at a 4.85 interest rate. (I was going to hold off for something better but reminded myself that anything under 5% is great). We were able to qualify for the $6,500 tax credit to boot. We were fortunate enough to find a motivated buyer, and coupled that with a real savvy real estate agent from Keller Williams who helped negotiate a very favorable deal for our family. I will put down at least 20% on the house, but have been tempted to put down more so the monthly payment stays somewhat palatable. The other side of me says that money is cheap at 4.85 %, and inflation will hit sooner rather than later. Maybe it is in the best interests to leverage myself against higher interest rates... and a flood of U.S. dollars. I will look forward to reader feedback on this one.
Week Ahead
DateTime (ET)StatisticForActualBriefing ForecastMarket ExpectsPriorRevised FromMay 1110:00 AMWholesale InventoriesMar-0.5%0.5%0.6%-May 128:30 AMTrade BalanceMar--$39.5B-$40.0B-$39.7B-May 1210:30 AMCrude Inventories05/08-NANA2.75M-May 122:00 PMTreasury BudgetApr-NA-$20.0B-$20.9B-May 138:30 AMContinuing Claims05/08-4600K4590K4594K-May 138:30 AMExport Prices ex-ag.Apr-NANANA-May 138:30 AMImport Prices ex-oilApr-NANANA-May 138:30 AMInitial Claims05/08-440K440K444K-May 138:30 AMExport Prices ex-ag.Apr-NANA0.6%-May 138:30 AMImport Prices ex-oilApr-NANA0.2%-May 148:30 AMRetail SalesApr-0.6%0.2%1.9%-May 148:30 AMRetail Sales ex-autoApr-0.7%0.5%0.9%-May 149:15 AMCapacity UtilizationApr-73.7%73.8%73.2%-May 149:15 AMIndustrial ProductionApr-0.6%0.6%0.1%-May 149:55 AMMich SentimentMay-73.773.572.2-May 1410:00 AMBusiness InventoriesMar-0.4%0.4%0.5%-
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