Investments 2017

[MarkB_MI]

Time to look back on how the "Guns 'n' Gold" investment strategy did versus the stock market. Last time was here: <a href="http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ttalk&th=1776912">http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ttalk&th=1776912</a>

For gun prices, I check Dunham's sale price on the Bushmaster "Patrolman's Carbine". (Dunham's is a regional sporting goods store that almost always has that particular rifle on sale.) A year ago it was $850, now you can get it for $800. Down six percent.

Checking the London fix for gold, it opened 2017 at $1151 and closed at $1291. Up a surprising 12 percent.

The S&P 500 started 2017 at 2277 and ended up 2674, for a gain of 17 percent. Adding in a two percent dividend yield gives a return of 19 percent, soundly beating both guns and gold.

 

[showcrop]

I don't keep track but I must have made some money last year. Of course you haven't really made it until you have sold at a profit. Early last year I transferred into a managed account with a conservative posture, because I was sure that the bubble would burst soon. But here we are with it stretching thinner every day and still growing. Who knows what little piece of news will send it falling back down?

 

[Elton Fancher]

Stocks have been on an upswing for nearly a record number of months. Odds say it has to rebalance at some point soon but the tax bill may push it higher, or possibly have the reverse effect.

 

[hydro70guy]

Truthfully stocks have been in a steady increase since there were first stocks to state otherwise is just pessimism not realism.

Joe

 

[coshoo]

I transferred my IRAs into money market when Dow Jones was about 18,000, anticipating a bubble burst. Hasn't happened, and as my 35 year old financial advisor reminds me, I missed out on a good increase. But I have enough money for a good retirement (I'm 69) now, but won't if I lose half of it in an adjustment. So I'm fine with it.

Wife and I put a lot into our retirement accounts over the past years. She doesn't keep up with the financial markets. So when advisor was trying to talk me out of converting to cash a couple years ago, I told him he would have to be the one to tell her (if crash happened) that we had just lost all the money she had put in for the past 2 years. Long silence on the other end- then "OK, I'll make that conversion first thing in the morning."

 

[JD Seller]

Over time gold is not a good investment IF your looking at increasing the value of your holdings. If your looking at protecting your holdings then it is not that bad.

My concern is the dollar really has no meaning anymore. It is just has a made up value. It is all smoke and mirrors. We all know that the government has been printing money. We have had inflation the last 15-20 year but the bean counters play with what they count in the inflation calculation so they can say we do not have very high inflation. So if you figure in inflation the stock market is not really doing as well as it looks like.

 

[Goose]

My mutual funds are now earning between 7% and 14%, depending on the fund. One fund has an astonishing year to date earning of 34%. I won't go into politics, but a year or two ago they were losing money.

I think it's time to buy more.

 

[LAA]

Did you send DJT a thank you card?

 

[Frank 41]

We left Edward Jones for Vanguard because of high fees. Now all but GE are doing so so. Plan to dump everything soon.

At my age, my old account makes more sense. "Put it in travelers checks, they are good anywhere."

 

[rlp in Co.]

Well I guess I am the only one that could figure out how to loose money in an up market! I haven't lost very much but still it is frustrating. So this is an example how I did it. I bought eep, a pipeline company that pays 10% dividend. I thought it had bottomed out. Well it didn't and I sold out for a loss. Now it looks like it is going up and where I sold is where I should have bought!

 

[MarkB_MI]

Nah, I didn't want to tax Donnie's third grade vocabulary. But I might send a thank-you note to Flynn the Fink for spilling the beans on his boss.

 

[LAA]

There does not appear to be any beans to spill from that quarter, or any other where the so called ''russia gate'' is concerned, although muley may now be backed in a corner and forced to turn on his masters and his peers, such as Jim, the ''long liar'' Comey. They got caught before they managed to manufactur any crime for POTUS, I'm just glad he has 7 years and 19 days to make them regret trying.