Portfolios - According to the Wizard
Portfolios for Ages: For the individual investor
If you can successfully manage a household or small business, then you can manage your own portfolio with the results you need and want. Like everything in life, you need to crawl before you walk. To build a specialized portfolio from scratch, I have to know whether the investor is (a) conservative, (b) enterprising, or (c) speculative oriented. I have to know whether he seeks (a) quality, (b) growth, or (c) value. Finally, I have to know his age bracket, the time and focus he can spend monitoring markets and his general understanding of how capital markets work...
Specialized Portfolios: For global stock investors
Global investing entails significant political and economic risk. Even the biggest global corporations disappoint their investors. Numerous variables have a material effect on results or operations. Most of us have a pretty fair understanding of what goes on in our own homes but not in those of our neighbours, although for close-by neighbours we might venture a guess. Take that case to people in other countries and we typically don't have a clue. With regard to investing around the world, I believe the only successful approach is to take a defensive posture...
Specialized Portfolios: For offshore accounts
Probably 95% of offshore investing is in interest-bearing instruments. Zero Coupon Bonds (Zeros) make an attractive holding because there is a single investment and at maturity a single payment. There is no further administration necessary, which saves costs. As all offshore account holders know, the biggest and most reputable offshore financial institutions gouge them on transaction and bookkeeping fees. A popular investment is the iShares iBoxx Euro Liquid Corporate Liquids ETF (IBCX.L), which tracks a basket of investment-grade Euro corporate bonds...
Specialized Portfolios: For women investors
At first glance, portfolios held by women should be the same as for men but according to researchers they are not. That may be due to different purchasing interests and habits or possibly to investment sales programs designed for women. I suspect the latter. Women, we know, live longer than men and many widows have to manage their financial holdings without help of family. Hence, I do think it is important for women to become students of the market as well as just investors, as early in life as possible. Having said that, I'm not one to tell women what's good for them...
Specialized Portfolios: For ethical company investors
A whole industry sprung up in the past 20 years based on investing with a social conscience. Some of these holier-than-thou firms claim to be "ethical" investors. I have difficulty with this subject because, while I feel I can judge myself against my peers, and they against me, in terms of ethical practices, how does one judge a Wal-Mart with over 1 million employees or an HSBC that does banking in 80+ countries. I suppose if a corporation complies with the United Nations Global Compact, it could be called an ethical one but even then there is likely to be an argument...
For Dow-30 watchers
The Trader Wizard recommends the individual Dow 30 stocks to all investors. The skinny is simply that most of us know something about these quality companies, the key thing being that their share prices tend to quickly revert to the mean. I have always had the best success when keeping things simple and the Dow 30 stocks best enable that approach. Fortunately, Value Line Publishing does a great job in presenting the big picture, enabling you to keep things simple. Once you start getting into the detail of capital markets, I find it is best to stick to what you know...
Specialized Portfolios: For dividend-seeking investors
Whether you are conservative, enterprising or speculative in your approach to investing, you may have an overriding interest in income. If there are obvious tax advantages to buying equities over bonds, and in your case there may be, then find dividend payers that match up with your need for quality investments. Here is my recommended high dividend-paying stock portfolio of 12 high-quality stocks. At November 4, 2003, the average dividend yield was 4.58%. Half are Dow 30 stocks. If you can buy in at lower prices in 1H04, the dividend yield will be even higher...
Specialized Portfolios: All Exchange Traded Funds
All persons should take 100% control of their own financial situation and that means managing an investment portfolio. As simplest is usually best, you should start with an all-Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) portfolio. The American Stock Exchange has a web site (www.amex.com) that fully explains ETFs. You will find all types -- from major market indices, sectors and industry groups, foreign markets, bonds, and so forth. You can enter the ticker symbol of the ETF into their search engine to find all the information you'll need to buy these portfolio diversifying instruments...
