Dave's Account Talk

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New Orleans is preparing for a major hit from Katrina. The mayor has already told people to expect no electricity, so I'm wondering since our TSP office is there, if any transfers will happen tomorrow:shock:
 
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Quite right. As a long-term investor I am not overly concerned with being able to make the microscopic transaction I have in mind; I can wait. They can't leave millions of us hanging indefinitely though -- they are sure to havea backup plan.

As for using the strategic petroleum reserve, it would be purely symbolic. The reserve is for the use of the navy in case of an embargo. That is what makes it strategic. (Did you know that on the Japanese side, the oil consumed by the IJN in the Battle of Midway would have powered their economy forsix months? That is according to Walter Lord.)

In size our reserverepresents a tiny fraction of our national useage and is practically useless as a means of manipulating the oil market price. But symbolically it might work, for a while.

Dave
 
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I don’t think there is a back up plan.

Excerpt from Sarah:

It should be noted that workers at the parallel call center are not able to access accounts -- because the center in New Orleans is closed - but they can answer more general questions and explain the developing situation. TSP officials have said it is important to have someone to answer the phones, instead of a busy signal or no answer at all.

It is therefore important that you check your allocations both before and after the storm passes to ensure their accuracy.
 
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I rebalanced today, 35G 26C 26S 13I;in effect cob tomorrow, I think, asI dialed in at 1230.

It will be a very small move as the indices have netted small moves for the month. I had some contributions, though, so now everything is where it belongs. When I get the confirm, I will learnthe exact before-and-after statistics, so check back.

So far this quarter I am in positive territory with earnings of 1.6% of the total, or about 3% on the amount invested. For the year I am perfectly flat after subtracting contributions. Hmph.

Ideterminedin June that the only way to capture all the positive market days was by remaining invested 100% of the time, and I felt sure that the gains would exceed the losses over time. This has been thecase thus far. I realize it is only ten weeks.

So let's drink to a profitable September.I announce I will split 50-50 any gains this month with the Red Cross, on top of my usual annual contribution.I'll write the check October 1. Remember, if we sell, the terrorists win.

Dave
 
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I got my confirm this evening. A small amount of money left the I-fund and S-fund, going into the C-fund and G-fund. That tells us which funds didbetter during this period.

Buy some I -- diversify.

For the period from the close 7/29 to the close 9/2, the five trading weeks of the month of August, the C+S+I all-funds index increased by 46 points, or 1.01%. That means if you had 100% of your money spread evenly across these three funds, that would be your rate of earnings. My money is spread unevenly, of course, and my earnings for the month werezero to two decimal places, just $186.Not much, but better than losing a like amount! I remain 35G 26C 26S 13I.

BTW, I had no difficulty making my transaction. Good luck!

Dave
 
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Things are looking good for the Red Cross. This week I seem to have earned 1% and a fractionon the total balance, of which 65% was actually invested. That equates to about 1.6% on the amount invested. But wait! The G-fund also paid a penny so that counts, too.

Anyway it was a very good week for all of us. Let September be even here on out, and who can complain? Good luck everybody!

Dave
 
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We managed to hold our own this week, almost. A couple of contributions arrived which helped. When we get our statements at the end of the month I will know for sure, but at this stage it looks like the Red Cross has earned ~$400 so far. Ten more trading days to go...

Good luck everybody!

Dave
 
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Three hurricanes in ten weeks have impacted us here in Key West. It has been one heck of a season. It will be a real joy to go up to NY State next week to attend my nephew'swedding, let me tell ya. I'm rock-happy. *smile*

And can anyone tell me why I have had over 5,000 views of this Account Talk page in the last month or so? The count went from about 6,000 to 11,000+.

Anyway, we are entering the home stretch for September. Last week erased the gains of the first week of the month, so I am hoping for something positive now. Perhaps the realization that neither Katrina nor Rita have dealt us a lethal blow, and that life mustgo on, will sway investor sentiment.

I believe I will have to wait until the first week of October to determine the amount of thedonation I will give the Red Cross. I need to see my quarterly statement. Ifit ends up being small or negative, I will set a floor of $250 which is my usual annual donation, so that will double it. (For years it was $100 but last year I increased it and specified Florida as the recipient of the assistance. The way it is going in the tropics lately, the donationwill continue at the higherlevel.)

Also at the end of September I will rebalance my portfolio to my desired 35G-26C-26S-13I allocation. Good luck everybody!

Dave
 
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Dave M wrote:
And can anyone tell me why I have had over 5,000 views of this Account Talk page in the last month or so? The count went from about 6,000 to 11,000+.
A secret fan club? :l
 
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Obviously others like the way DaveM manages his account - and are interested to see how he controls his emotions to be successful. That's impressive!
 
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And another 1,300 page-views are registered overnight, practically. Whatthehell...?! D
 
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Dave M,

I think members of the military may be viewing to gain education as to what to do with the unlimited sums they can invest in 2006 - no caps on them. They are in a tax free zone mostly and salary is the only limiting factor - hooah!
 
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BT, write down the number in your Account Talk and then check back. I think ALL the page views are increasing swiftly. You may have a point about the boys in the militaryshirts, but really -- thousands per day?! (Cue theme from 'Twilight Zone.')

Back on-topic, a good day today may mean a good month for September, good news for all of us who have remained invested through the ups and downs. And here is a thought for you my friend: the U.S. market is being out-performed by the foreign markets this year. Is it not time for you to diversify and buy some I?

Dave
 
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Dave M wrote:
BT, write down the number in your Account Talk and then check back. I think ALL the page views are increasing swiftly.
At this rate, the lot of you will have to change to roman numerals to have space !!! Tho the metric might work, too.!:l
 
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DaveM,

As a family unit, I'm covered . My wife owns an international fund in her Florida Retitrement System account. So we tend to be diversified, it's just not visible. A new wave of dividend-paying mutual funds is helping to bring Japans stubbornly bearish individual investors back to their stock market. The recent move in the Nikkei 225 is real and has been supported primarily by foreign investors, but now the domestic individual investor is starting to participate via mutual funds.

Dennis
 
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Sixhundred hits occurred overnight; I went from 12,8xx to 13,4xx. I think we are being spied upon, maybe being preyed upon, by outsiders. Alternatively, maybe Tom's new server is registering its internal housekeeping operations as hits.

Let's be sure to be clean when we visit, and avoid coming here directly after viewing our Account Summary at TSP.gov or after making a purchase at Amazon or something, where our data may remain in the cache. Close that browser window like they recommend.

Dave
 
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Eight hundred hits in a day and a half, hm...

Here is my initial estimate of September. I had 1.1% net increase on the total balance, which works out to 1.7% on the amount invested. The C+S+I index advanced 61 points or 1.3%, for comparison.

For Q3 it looks like my gain was 2.7% of the total and 4.1% net on the investment. C+S+I was up 285 points for 6.6%. After I get my Q3 statement I can refine that and work out my YTD figures.

My figures will always be less than the index's since I am only partially invested and that not evenly across the three funds. Since the I-fund has been leading the pack and it carries half-weight in my portfolio, the index leads my return.

I have rebalanced to 35G 26C 26S13I. When I get the confirm I will report.The Red Cross is in for a nice boost in a few days.

Dave
 
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Hi Dave As I am still new to this site I am not sure what hits are, can you elaborate on the “Sixhundred hits occurred overnight” What does that mean?

Thanks
 
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Dave M wrote:
Eight hundred hits in a day and a half, hm...
Dave, just oo curiosity, when I got home at 0130 I noted several of you guys' numbers. You were 13612. Now, at 1030 am, it is 14419 - Some of the others had even greater increase in viewers in this same time span! I don't believe it is the server in doing the maintenance, becuse there are only certain ones who have the sudden increase in viewers. Fascinating puzzle ...!!
 
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I forgot to check the hit-count yesterday but it is up a thousand in three days as you can see from grandma'spost above. Oh well.

My confirm came through yesterday. Q3 statements are not yet available. In this rebalancing, a small amount of money left the I-fund, the C-fund and the S-fund, all of which flowed into the G-fund which increased by about 100 shares = 1 part in 60.

When our statements are available I will be able to see just how I stand. Good luck everybody!

Dave
 
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