Steve in TN

Why Investors Should Avoid TIP

I would be very careful buying the TBT. It is a 2X leveraged inverse long-bond ETF, therefore you will not get a 20% gain if long-term treasuries fall by 10%. You will probably get closer to 12%.

Thursday Outlook: Commodities, Global Markets

David,
My sister was diagnosed with cancer 15 yrs ago and had an attitude that she would beat the disease. After her treatment at MD Anderson in Houston she never looked back and is disease free. It seems Francie has the same attitude and courage. We all hope for the best for her.
Steve

Tweaking Nusbaum's El-Erian Portfolio via ETFs

I wonder if this represents El-Erian's personal portfolio?
Or is this what he would invest his customer's money in. Two completely different questions.

Bespoke's Commodity Snapshot (2/12/09)

I appreciate the very useful charts. For investing, they are invaluable.

A Trend-Follower Positions for 2009

I would recommend those investors using ETF trend following strategy to use the method employed by NoLoad FundX, a historically very highly rated newsletter. That is, take the average of four total return time periods for an ETF and compare that value to all other ETFs in that risk category (or you could just subscribe to the service). The 4 time periods are: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and one year. If you follow their methodology you will always be in the "right" ETF at any particular time period.

In addition, I don't know why David doesn't recommend dollar cost averaging into the equity markets at this time. To do otherwise is just guessing whether we've hit bottom or still have a way to go. Spread your investments over a 9 month period and you'll probably do fine.