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Posted: 1/30/2006 4:20:29 PM EDT
Link Posted: 1/31/2006 9:16:36 AM EDT
[#1]
Not actually knowing anything about your situation, age, etc, but nonetheless
I'd chuck the REIT's for sure.  Real estate has peaked.  not many gains left there.
I'd get rid of the Russia fund.  No rule of law in Russia, things can just get eaten by the government.  Not a good place to be.  it's just a gamble, not investing.
I think you have a bunch of world wide funds that are pretty similar.  you might think about pruning those down.  Just a thought.
Not that you asked but
i'd get rid of Time-Warner, what a pig, gone nowhere in years and they built a 1.7B dollar office building, a sure sign they aren't investing in the business.  
Comcast should also go. they don't even cover their cost of capital, all cable companies don't.

Just my thoughts, what are yours?

Brian
Link Posted: 1/31/2006 9:24:08 AM EDT
[#2]
yes....go with ETFs

REITs were my biggest losers.  If you have em, get rid of em, like the poster before said.

fool.com even bet they were safe because of their large dividends they payed out.  Well, the dividends tanked and so did the value of the stock (at least the ones I had).  Motley Fool admitted they made a mistake, and their REITs just may be the biggest losers fool.com picked for 2005....
Link Posted: 1/31/2006 2:42:11 PM EDT
[#3]
I got rid of almost all my Time Warner stock,  I worked for them and was contributing into my 401k buying TW stock when it was $78.00 a share.  I am keeping a little out of spite it was not fun watching the stock go from $78.00 to $15.00 a share as an employee.

The Comcast is also in my current 401k as a result of my current employer, care to guess who?  I will not admit to it online, never know whos watching.
Link Posted: 2/1/2006 10:22:34 AM EDT
[#4]
In your place I'd liquidate what I think is nessessary and create some cash for re-investing when theres a 10% or greater correction. Sorry,but the only positions I like there are FidLowPriced/Dodge&Cox/Fidelitymidcap/...you seem to have alot of small cap and international overlaping positions in mutuals. I drop the bottom 3 stocks listed myself, and consider....UNH, FITB or C,and GE.FWIW.....
Link Posted: 2/1/2006 10:42:52 AM EDT
[#5]
Just recently I discovered a few things:

Warren Buffet always recommended people invest in something that they WILL NOT lose money in.  Basically, stocks that WILL increase.

How do you know which stocks WILL increase?  How did Buffet KNOW?  He knew because he knew the board of directors and the CEOs of the companies he invested in.  How did he do that?  He did not have the net back then, and even if he did he would likely NEVER know what their business practices consisted of.  He KNEW because he had a friendship/business relationship with these folks.  How did he do that?  He knew Benjamin Graham......he had inside scoops.  It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE for most of us to be in the loop on these things like Buffet had the chance to be.

OK, what is the next option?  Blue chip stocks.  DOW 30.  But even these are not always winners.  Microsoft and Walmart may be on their way down, for example.  It is really hard to know with blue chips and they are not always safe.

Next option- a stock with high dividends.  These also are not fool proof, as stated in my previous post.  Do not rely on this either.

Last option- diversify.  I don't mean buy one company stock in one sector and another from another sector.  Company stocks are outdated and not worth it IMO.Mutual funds, ETFs, index funds.  These are the common joe blow's best option.  Get a mix of world stocks, small caps, mid caps, large caps, S&P index, DOW index, ect....

This is my opinion and others may disagree.  I know a guy who buys penny stocks and makes thousands.  Good for you, but the stakes are too high for me.  He has also lost thousands.....

I have lost my arse too many times on individual company stocks.  No more for me.  I have gained about 3 times as much as I ever have with ETFs in one year than all of my individual company stocks combined since I started investing.....
Link Posted: 2/28/2006 10:31:56 PM EDT
[#6]

Quoted:
yes....go with ETFs

REITs were my biggest losers.  If you have em, get rid of em, like the poster before said.

fool.com even bet they were safe because of their large dividends they payed out.  Well, the dividends tanked and so did the value of the stock (at least the ones I had).  Motley Fool admitted they made a mistake, and their REITs just may be the biggest losers fool.com picked for 2005....



My REIT's are up over 30% year to year.  Dont plan on selling them anytime soon.
Link Posted: 3/1/2006 1:41:03 PM EDT
[#7]
Ariel Fund (ARGFX) is one of those "socially responsible" funds. The hell with that. I refuse to invest alongside guilty liberals who want handicapped investments.
Link Posted: 3/2/2006 3:19:18 PM EDT
[#8]

Quoted:
Ariel Fund (ARGFX) is one of those "socially responsible" funds. The hell with that. I refuse to invest alongside guilty liberals who want handicapped investments.



Vanguard has a Calverts Social index or something like that which has done quite well.  

I have thought about investing in a socially responsible fund,  but I would just want to weed out companies that invest in porn and crap like that.
Link Posted: 3/12/2006 6:09:54 AM EDT
[#9]
Have you thought about index funds? With the index funds in my 401k and my spdr in my Roth, I have been getting a return of no less than 12% (sometimes as high as 17%), for the past 3 yrs. Just something else to consider...
Link Posted: 3/14/2006 3:22:34 PM EDT
[#10]

I'm in a Exchange Traded Fund symbol CEF (Central Fund of Canada). They invest 90% of the fund in gold and silver bullion (not paper). Just sits there in a vault they store for you. Seems pretty safe to me and has been doing really well in the last several months (why not, Gold has been on a tear)

If your a conservative investor and believe where gonna get slapped by inflation in the next few years, check out  www.safehaven.com.  They have a lot of good articles there, although some of it is economic gloom and doom and can be downright scary.
Link Posted: 3/14/2006 9:54:13 PM EDT
[#11]
Yea, you only need between 3 to 7 funds.  Anything more is just a headache.  Dump anything with a load or a high expense ratio.  Also, consider an index fund for some of your money.  Oh, but keep the Dodge and cox fund.  I love mine.  My two cents
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