Great Job everyone, you are mostly all beating the index fund average over the last 2 months!
I think you should probably use the "James 15" account as the index fund average, since this is the "lazy portfolio" containing three index funds for US stocks, international stocks, and US Bonds. Currently it's in 6th place in the rankings - five players ahead of it (obviously), and 16 behind it.
More Info from these index funds.
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares Top Holdings
Apple Inc (AAPL) 2.26%
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) 2.22%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 1.40%
General Electric Co (GE) 1.34%
Chevron Corp (CVX) 1.30%
Google, Inc. Class A (GOOG) 1.28%
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) 1.28%
Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) 1.23%
Procter & Gamble Co (PG) 1.17%
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) 1.15%
Apple moved from $402 to $489 (today) within the last 3 months. (21%)
XOM is so giant that it barely budges in stock price in modern day; however it has wonderful dividend growth rates.
Same with J&J! The beauty of both of these is the buy and hold forever strategy, as 3-4 stock splits occurred with company growth and company dividends over the last 30 years.
GE and CVS, Great dividend growth companies.
Google a powerful tech company, buy low, sell high; and they eye up opportunities in tech and engineers and buy them up fast.
MSFT is losing face value, and trying to force too many consumers to subscription based models with their software, and or mandatory forced updates that add more commercials instead of functional performance.
Wells Fargo, 19% return in the last year (to today)
PG, another great dividend growth company with 4 splits in the last 30 years due to tremendous company growth.
Same with IBM, but only two splits.
If these 9 stocks where you portfolio, it would be a strategy of 70% high quality dividend growth companies, and 30% for Capital Gains in long established Tech.
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Investor Top Holdings
Nestle SA (NSRGF) 1.14%
HSBC Holdings PLC (HBCYF) 1.11%
Roche Holding AG (RHHVF) 0.91%
Novartis AG (NVSEF) 0.88%
Toyota Motor Corp (7203) 0.85%
Vodafone Group PLC (VODPF) 0.76%
BP PLC (BPAQF) 0.69%
Royal Dutch Shell PLC Class A (RYDAF) 0.68%
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GLAXF) 0.66%
Sanofi (SAN) 0.62%
There are some interesting stocks here.
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Investor Shares Top Holdings
US Treasury Note 1.75% 0.70%
US Treasury Bond 6.25% 0.70%
US Treasury Note 0.375% 0.69%
US Treasury Note 0.375% 0.63%
US Treasury Note 0.25% 0.59%
US Treasury Note 0.25% 0.56%
US Treasury Note 1.625% 0.56%
US Treasury Note 0.375% 0.56%
US Treasury Note 2.125% 0.55%
US Treasury Note 0.625% 0.54%
Here's an interesting article from 2010 about Obama and his investments:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-41142697/all-the-presidents-money-where-the-obamas-invested-in-2010/(I am not against passively investing in index funds with very low expense ratios. I just find it more fun to buy low, sell high and do more research on the market for more rewards. Kind of like the knowledge skills and passive/ active work difference between fixing a house to flip a house and renting a house; just with stocks.)
Fun note to add.
"Billionaire Mario Gabelli’s asset manager GAMCO Investors has beaten the S&P 500 by a little over 2% per year since inception in 1986, and his small cap picks have done even better. No wonder the firm now invests over $30 billion. Mario Gabelli, who was named Morningstar’s Fund Manager of the Year in 1997 and The Institutional Investor’s Money Manager of the Year in 2010, is one of a number of investors who have started with value investing founding fathers Graham and Dodd and added their own twist on that long-standing advice. In Mario Gabelli’s case, it is the insight that an investor can approach a public company from the perspective of an acquirer; some businesses may be worth more in the private market than as publicly traded companies, and so a valuation that looks fair in the markets may be very attractive from a buyer’s perspective. This generally results in a focus on cash flow as opposed to earnings. In the 1980s- the height of the leveraged buyout craze- this was a particularly lucrative investment strategy, but as the recent awards demonstrate Gabelli and GAMCO have continued to be good investors."
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http://www.insidermonkey.com/hedge-fund/gamco+investors/422/#BT9kIodPoCdvhgt8.99