EW_ret Account Talk

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I made IFT at COB on 6-8-2006 to 60% G, 20% C, 20% S. This sells the I fund position for a big loss, and adds 10% to C and S funds. I am hoping C and S funds will bounce tomorrow, and expect the I fund to continue its fall.

My strategy was to ease back into equities this week, taking gains when possible, and staying defensive by keeping 20-60% in G fund. There have been no gains to exploit, and when I sold some C and S yesterday, I only locked in losses. Last week when I bailed to G fund, the markets bounced back. I hope the markets bounce back tomorrow, or Monday.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I made an IFT at COB on 6-13-2006 to 45% G, 5% F, 25% C, 12% S, and 13% I fund. This adds 20% to my equity positions (+8% C, +6% S and +6% I), which I opened two weeks ago. I have sustained about 1.6% loss in my TSP account since May 30th. The YTD performance is now at break even. The U.S. and foreign markets continue falling and it appears panic selling has set Asia and Europe in a downward spiral. I expect the I fund will be down more than 2% today.

My strategy was to ease back into equities, taking gains when possible, and staying defensive by keeping 20-60% in G fund. There have been no gains to exploit, since the markets have been down almost every day.

My retirement portfolio asset allocation now stands at 45%/12%/43% (stock/bond/cash). My TSP account only represents 5% of this portfolio. It was up to 48% equities on May 25, but I moved 4% of equities to cash in my IRAs on May 31st and June 2nd. I have been buying back those equity shares, and will continue over the next three months. I have also been buying equity shares (U.S. and international) in my taxable account. I have bought equity shares as the markets have turned down, but they just keep falling every day. The U.S. and foreign markets appear to be feeding on each other's negative performance.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I made an IFT at COB on 6-16-2006 to 35% G, 25% C, 20% S, and 20% I fund. This sells all F shares and adds 15% to my equity positions (+8% S and +7% I). Yesterdays big gains helped repair the damage in my TSP account so it stands at -0.4% since May 30th. The YTD performance for my TSP account is now +0.4%.

My strategy was to ease back into equities, taking gains when possible, and staying defensive by keeping 20-60% in G fund. I stand at 65% equities in TSP. I plan to reduce C/S/I exposure when S&P 500 approaches 1270.

My retirement portfolio asset allocation now stands at 47%/13%/40% (stock/bond/cash).

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I made an IFT at COB on 6-19-2006 to 40% G, 25% C, 25% S, and 10% I fund. This sells 10% of I fund and adds 5% to S fund. I looks like the I fund will end slightly positive though the strong dollar will take a big part of the gains. The S fund is weakest so I am buying more shares today. I am keeping 40% in G to buy more shares at lower price if markets turn down further this week.

My strategy is to ease back into equities, taking gains when possible, and staying defensive by keeping 20-60% in G fund. I plan to reduce C/S/I exposure when S&P 500 approaches 1270.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I made an IFT at COB on 6-23-2006 to 70% G, 20% C, and 10% S. This sells 10% of C fund and 20% of S fund. I sold the 10% of I fund yesterday, and bought 5% additional C and S. I am hoping for a positive finish in U.S. markets today. I am keeping 70% in G to buy more shares at lower price if markets turn down next week.

My strategy is to ease back into equities, taking gains when possible, and staying defensive by keeping 20-70% in G fund. I plan to reduce my C/S/I exposure when S&P 500 is above 1270. That should happen within the next few weeks.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I made an IFT at COB on 6-28-2006 to 20% G, 40% C, and 40% S. This buys additional 10% of C fund and 20% of S funds. I purchased additional 10% of C and S funds Monday (6-26). I should have held off that purchase until today.

My strategy is to ease back into equities, taking gains when possible, and staying defensive by keeping 20-70% in G fund. I plan to reduce my C/S/I exposure when S&P 500 is above 1270.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I made an IFT at COB on 7-03-2006 to 100% G. This sells the remaining 25% of C and 15% of S funds. I am going defensive because I expect market downside Wednesday and/or Thursday. I then must decide if I want back in for Friday and the beginning of next week.

My strategy was to ease into equities, taking gains when possible, and staying defensive. The S&P 500 is now above 1270 so its time to play defensive. Will the market turn down this summer and fall for the expected four-year cycle bust? That’s what many expect, so will it happen?

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I made an IFT at COB on 7-05-2006 to 70% G, 13% C, and 17% S. This buys 30% into the market weakness today. I remain defensive because of possible further market downside.

My strategy is to ease into equities, take gains when possible, and stay defensive. The S&P 500 ended at 1280 on July 3rd so I went 100% G at COB.

Will the stock markets turn down this summer and fall for the expected four-year cycle bust? That’s what many expect, so will it happen?

​

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

I thought I would make a post to my account talk today since its been awhile. The market has continued its upward move since my last entry in July. The S&P 500 finished at 1364 today, down 5. That up 6.5% from July 3rd.

I have access to the RevShark's newletter so I cannot say my current fund allocation. I am content with my TSP account performance. Its much easier not deciding where to place my TSP money every week. Thats done for me now.

The Weekly Tracker work keeps me busy. Then there is the "to do list" and I'am still on item 5. The first year of retirement life has gone by quickly.

 

[Griffin]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

EW,

I fully understand and appreciate the confidentiality of the RevShark newsletter, but I have a question: If you are a subscriber, can you post your allocation, if you are not following Rev but are getting the newsletter for his insight?

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

EW,

I fully understand and appreciate the confidentiality of the RevShark newsletter, but I have a question: If you are a subscriber, can you post your allocation, if you are not following Rev but are getting the newsletter for his insight?

I defer the official response to your question to Tom. Its a good question and I have wondered about that myself. I don't precisely follow the RevShark recommendations. Since I have retired my account is not growing by contributions and I have become more conservative. My primary goal is to protect capital, and outperform the L2010 fund. Therefore, the newsletter comments are more important. I tend to follow the fund choices in the newsletter, but at reduced percentages.

I do not reveal my TSP fund allocation because I get the RevShark newsletter, and secondly because I am responsible for tracking members in the Weekly Tracker. The second reason is more important to me because tracking myself could create conflicts with others.

Congratulations on your excellent TSP performance in the tracker. Continue the good work. Your comments are insightful and valuable because they describe your thoughts in making fund transfers.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

Just thought I would enter my account talk to say, "Good investing to all, and to all good health and wealth". How is the market going to finish January? That is suppose to indicate how the rest for the year will go for the markets. It’s pretty flat so far.

My accounts are flat year to date as well because of bond performance drag. I knew I should of held off in buying bonds for past four months. My TSP account is in G and my entire retirement portfolio is at 38% stocks, 21% bonds, and 41% cash. I am trying to be patient waiting for the correction before committing more to stocks. But, it seems that downturn will never arrive.

 

[Show-me]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

Patients is the hard part.

 

[GUCHI]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

ew
i got your message about tracking the L funds. when i went to the L funds page, i did not see where to move the slider to the current date. could you help in finding that area???

thanks for all your help

guchi

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

ew
i got your message about tracking the L funds. when i went to the L funds page, i did not see where to move the slider to the current date. could you help in finding that area???

thanks for all your help

guchi

It sounds like you can find the Lifecycle funds page at TSP.gov site. It is entered by choosing the large icon, "L Lifecycle Funds", located center-left on the main TSP.gov page. Once on the L fund page, you will see the five L funds pie charts.

Choose the L fund you want by left-clicking your mouse on its pie chart (You will need to have flash player installed in your internet browser). You should see the pie chart with a flash player control panel below it. You then grab the slider button (hold down left mouse button) and slowly move slider to right until the date shows January 2007. You could also use the play/pause button to get to the current date. The date is displayed to the right of the pie chart. As you move the slider note the date moves in three month increments. Or use the play/pause button.

Hope these directions help you. Perhaps you need to install the macromedia/adobe flash player. Maybe you did not know how to find the correct Web page. Let me know if this was enough to help, or if you need additional help.

 

[GUCHI]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

EW
i will probably stick with the core funds and not mess with the l funds. your explanation was very helpful, and i appreciate you taking the time to show me how to go about doing it. when i multiplied my 30% towards each of the 5 funds in the L would i give you each individual % of the 5 funds because they added up to 30 % total ??? just in case i do go this way.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

You would add the L fund percentage to the funds you invested outside the L funds. For example, if you transfered 30% to L2040 and 70% to G (as of January 2007):

0.30(6.65 G+9.85 F+41.4 C+17.7 S+24.4 I)%+70%G= (70+2.00)% G, 2.95% F, 12.42% C, 5.31% S, and 7.32% I.

EW
i will probably stick with the core funds and not mess with the l funds. your explanation was very helpful, and i appreciate you taking the time to show me how to go about doing it. when i multiplied my 30% towards each of the 5 funds in the L would i give you each individual % of the 5 funds because they added up to 30 % total ??? just in case i do go this way.

 

[EW_ret]

Re: EWGuy Account Talk

It’s been awhile since I have posted here. I now have near a moderate allocation of 58% Stocks, 28% Bonds, and 14% Cash in all my retirement accounts. My TSP account is the smallest so I move it around some. I have been buying equities in my Vanguard accounts over the past month, increasing my stock exposure by 20% while the markets were low. But, now I think the markets could go lower. The home equity fuel has dried up, and the consumer will be more careful in spending.

I am having second thoughts about my investment strategy since the economy will likely hit some new lows in coming months. I had been waiting for that 10% correction to get back to my long-term asset allocation of 60/30/10. Perhaps I should have waited longer.

 

[EW_ret]

Do you have an online account at Vanguard? If not, open one and click on the Rollover link located on the front page [Roll over your retirement money. Taking a few minutes now can pay off for years to come. Learn how »]. You can apply online, answer some questions, and decide what funds you want to invest for the rollover. Once done you get a confirmation number and all details of the account and funds for the Rollover. I recommend you print, and save all details of this confirmation page. You are also instructed to print/save a PDF file with a Vanguard forms and instructions. You can discard the Vanguard form because TSP only recognizes forms TSP-70 and TSP-77 for withdrawing your account. Or you could call the number on Vanguard homepage and talk to a Vanguard representative who will help you with account setup and all details for the rollover.

The second essential task is to complete a TSP-70 (full withdrawal), or TSP-77 (partial withdrawal), form to initiate the rollover. You must be separted, or retired, from federal employment to perform a withdrawal of your TSP. I downloaded this form from TSP and completed pertinent sections. Section VI of the form must be completed by Vanguard. I mailed this TSP form, a copy of Vanguard confirmation page, and a cover letter to Vanguard. I had Vanguard fax the completed TSP form to the TSP Service Office. Or, you can ask Vanguard to mail you the completed TSP form, and then you mail, or fax, to it the TSP service office.

I did this process two years ago to transfer a portion of my TSP account (TSP-77) to my new Vanguard Rollover IRA. It took about three weeks to complete the transfer. Vanguard took only three business days, the TSP office about two weeks, and three or four days for the check to arrive at Vanguard.

EW,I've never talked on the threads before, but caught your intended rollover to Vanguard. I'm also disenchanted since the restrictions. Can you provide info that would assist me in researching how to roll into and use Vanguard?

 

[Steadygain]

WHOA!! This is MAJOR NEWS - like one the greatest STOCK MARKET CRASHES to ever occur.

If you are close to retiring (very close) then I can understand your reasoning.

Will the Auto Tracker and all the ITF information remain available or will someone else take over when you close your account?? You have been such a huge vital service to all of us.