Last Updated:
Friday November 08,
2006. Next Update =
Friday January 5th , 2007
The ranks and model portfolios
below are in PDF viewable form which requires Adobe Acrobat
Reader. If you need to download the free software from Adobe’s Web
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Acrobat
Fund-Track Ranks
For November 2006
-- see
Past Ranks Page
Fidelity Select
Ranks
For
November 2006
-- see
Fidelity Past Ranks Page
Exchange
Traded Fund Ranks
For November 2006
-- see
ETF Past
Ranks Page
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Model
portfolios for YTD performances and trades made as of Friday
December 08 2006
Model Portfolios
FUND-TRACK
2003 Fund-Track Quarterly Review
- Link to Peformance page
Mutual Fund Articles
(Recent articles of
interest regarding Mutual funds) (Some past Business Week articles
require you to register with them --free-- to view).
How to Fix The Mutual Fund Mess
-- "Hidden Fees,
Lax boards and now scandal. Here is what has to be done".
Business week (September 2003)
Mutual Funds: Is Your Broker Ripping
you Off --
A Business Week commentary that talks some about
what goes on behind the scenes at full service brokerages concerning
mutual funds that most investors don't know about. (June 2003)
Searching For a Finer Focus
-- Business Week story about funds that are beating
the competition, shunning diversification by focusing on a smaller
number of holdings. (May 2003)
Whipsawed by the Market
--
Business Week's cover story about the volatility of
today's market. (March 2003) Another
interesting and related story in this same issue is
How To Stay Afloat
Understanding Mutual Fund Distributions
-
This is a good article from About.com
and Dustin Woodward on a subject that always seems a bit confusing
to a lot of us
The Best Mutual Funds 2002
Business Week's annual Mutual Fund Score card
(January 2003)
The Mutual Fund Agony Goes On
-- Business Week's 3rd quarter Mutual fund
Scorecard. (September 2002)
Mastering Your Market Mood Swings
-
Untangling emotion can help you weather the turmoil.
This Business Week article talks about emotions and the
advantages gained by controlling them when investing.
(September 2002)
Cashing Out Like Crazy --
Mutual fund investors are fleeing like
there's no tomorrow. This
Business Week story highlights all the money being taken out of
the market these days. (July 2002)
The Gold bugs Are Lighting Up
-
"Prices may keep rising as inflation lurks and the dollar swoons".
This
Business Week article discusses the recent run up in gold and
some points considering whether it will continue or not. (June 2002)
Are Fund Expenses Eating Your Lunch ?
- A new method
of calculations shows how they may be". This
Business Week article talks about calculating fund expenses
not as a % of assets as normally done but as a % of fund return.
Hopefully someone like Morningstar will pick this up and run with
it. (June 2002)
Have Small Cap Value Funds hit the wall
? -
"Awash" in Cash and No Place To Go. Business Week
article about Small cap value funds, how well they have done, and
where they might be headed. (May 2002)
Does it pay to stay in closed funds ?
Interesting
article from
Morningstar about the performance of closed funds after they
close and the causes thereof. Bottom line, the
performance of closed funds usually drops off after closing.
For Fund-Track's policy regarding Closed end funds see this
question on the
FAQ page (March 2002)
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(Historically advantageous dates,
for deciding when to buy into or cash out of the market)
The "Seasonality System"--a smart way to play stock market
patterns--was featured in the Mutual Funds Magazine before it
went under in the fall of 2002. It was originally developed by
Martin Fosback who devoted a whole chapter to it in his book "Stock
Market Logic". This system informs investors when to buy and
when to sell, based on recurring historical ups and downs in the
market. A hypothetical investor who tracked these patterns to
the letter in the 21 years through 2001--moving into and out of the
market at precisely the right times during the year--would have
beaten the market while experiencing significantly less volatility. Accoeding
to Hulbert's digest,
"Over the last 20 years, the system would have returned an annualized
15.4% if you had switched between a money market fund and the
Wilshire 5000, a broad-based stock market index. That's the second
best performance of any market-timing system Hulbert tracks. By
contrast, the Wilshire 5000 returned only an annualized 12.8%.
What's more, the system has been 45% less volatile than buying and
holding the index. In other words, there have been far fewer bumps
in the road.
When its best
to buy:
2005
March 7 -
Strong Sell
March 18 - Sell
March 21 - Buy
March 22 - Strong Buy
March 29 - Strong Buy
April 7 - Strong Sell
April 14 - Strong
Sell
April 18 - Buy
April 27 Strong Buy
May 6 - Strong Sell
May 20 - Sell
May 23 Buy
May 25 - Strong Buy
May 27 Strong Sell
June 7 Strong Sell
June 17 Sell
June 20 - Buy
June 28 - Strong Buy
June 29 Strong Buy
July 1 - Strong Sell
July 7 - Strong Sell
July 15 - Sell
July 18 - Buy
July 27 - Strong Buy
August - Strong Sell
August 19 - Sell
August 22 - Buy
August 29 - Strong
Buy
August 31 - Strong
Buy
September 2 - Strong
Sell
September 7 - Strong
Sell
September 16 - Sell
September 19 - Buy
September 28 - Strong
Buy
October 7 - Strong
Sell
October 21 - Sell
October 24 - Buy
October 26 - Strong
Buy
November 7 - Strong
Sell
November 18 - Sell
November 21 - Strong
Buy
November 25 - Strong
Sell
November 28 - Strong
Buy
December 7 -
Strong Sell
December 16 - Sell
December 19 - Buy
December 28 - Strong
Buy
Do not use this as a trading guideline. Trade funds when
needed following those recommended in the
How to Use page or your own. Consider these dates just if
your going to make new purchases getting into Fund-Track or going to
exit Fund-Track to liquidate funds to cash.
If you would like to try implement a
switching strategy based solely on this try using an exchange-traded
fund (ETF). Standard and Poor's Depositary Receipts (SPY) tracks the
S&P 500. I's expenses are low (0.1% annually), and it has
trailed the S&P by just about that amount over the last decade.
Remember that you'll have to remember to make each trade before 4
p.m in order to get the closing price.
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