May 10, 2012

Position Changes: None. 

Major movements (+ or - one point or more among holdings): None.

Basic Summary (positions itemized after daily commentary)

Relative performance (marked to market) vs. S&P 500 since initiation

This Portfolio Model   + 211%

S&P 500                + 161%

Portfolio model initiated 5/5/95, archived and marked to market daily.

Initial S&P 500 level 520.12, Initial portfolio value $520,120.00.

Current portfolio value $1,618,146.52, gain 211.11% 

These results are reflective as to capital capture and market price of current holdings, itemized below.  They do not include cash dividends, interest earned on cash balances, transaction costs, or anything else. 

Current Stock vs. Cash Allocation

$1,176,332.61 (73%) stock. $441,813.91 (27%) cash equivalents. 

Summary of Closed Positions

Total Positions  459                     Average Position

      Profit     413  (89.97%)       Percentage   +  7.19%

      Loss        46  (10.03%)           Days Held    220

      Even         0  ( 0%)           Annualized  + 11.93% 

The major averages finished close to unchanged (Dow Industrials and S&P 500 up, Nasdaq Composite down), though intraday moves had the Dow wiping out the previous day’s losses.

 As has been mentioned throughout the week, the losses of the first three trading days, though accompanied by dramatic election news out of Europe, were inadequate to warrant jumping the gun and changing positions in this portfolio. 

The election of a Socialist in France, and the inclusion of Communists and Nazis in the Greek parliament set the stage for some fantastic storylines to come, but they provide little in terms of near term pricing predictability. 

Today’s jobless claims report beat expectations by a whopping 0.5%, providing some weak fuel to today’s narrative.  What is left out of most news reports is that the margin of error typical of these forecasts is nearly 20%. With little in the way of clear data, this portfolio will remain flexible going into tomorrow and the weekend.