Geoffrey Lordi

Playing Defense with ETFs and Preferred Stocks

Some good points here, but recommending preferreds, exchange traded debt, TPTCs, other other debt-based income vehicles because of their historical recovery from the October2008/March2009 lows is troubling since there is a small probability that folks will have that opportunity again in the short term, or that they would get out of their current preferreds only to re-enter in the single digits.

Furthermore, recommending non-cumulative preferreds is a potential mess: as someone who has invested in this range of products for years to build unique portfolios, I've seen far too often situations where non-cumulative preferreds cause loads of trouble for folks seeking high yields when they really don't understand the product, haven't read the EDGAR filings, and don't spend the time to study the indentures (for debt vehicles)...

Tread carefully...

New Candidates for the Dow Jones Average

SKF is the ProShares Ultra*short* financials, but yes, it's up 12.7% over the last 52 weeks...

Dogs of the Dow 2009

The funny thing is that I've never considered building a portfolio based on the DotDow strategy...I've picked one or two on occasion, attempting to game recovery based on a few elements I consider reparable. But never a full basket. How many folks actually do this? I've heard about it for years - from a multiplicity of sources - but never knew anyone who invested this way. And the strategy has never fit me, or anyone for whom I invest.

Thanks for the breakdown.

What Should We Make of Warren Buffett's Stake in Mega-Financials?

Hey folks,

Quick, "back of the napkin" calculations reveal that WMW and BRKA exhibit a -0.263 r^2, while WMW and XLF reveal a 0.582 r^2.

GL