New look and tracking for Income Portfolio
As my writing on this site has progressed I have endeavored to focus on following up on the stocks and topics I write about. To keep track of the stocks I believe are good values I have developed a couple of tracking portfolios to allow readers to see the stocks I write about and how they have performed. Up until this point I have been tracking the portfolios on a quarterly, equal dollar weighted basis. At the end of each quarter I would calculate returns of the portfolios then re-balance to equal the dollar amount then track the stocks through the next quarter without any changes in holdings unless I added or completely dropped a stock.
As I tracked and watched the stocks in my portfolios it became obvious that the buy/hold/re-balance strategy did not adequately reflect how I felt about the stocks in the portfolios. Some were those I believed were core holdings while others were in the portfolios to watch for buying opportunities. And others revealed themselves to have cyclical trading patterns. I started looking for a vehicle where I could set up an actively managed portfolio and be able to share the results on this site. Recently I discovered the offerings of Stockalicious.com which give me the tools to have an actively managed online portfolio.
The Stockalicious service offers a comprehensive portfolio tracking service. Dividends are automatically credited, commission amounts can be entered with the trades, daily and historical returns are calculated and graphed. I set up my Income Portfolio to start on July 1 with a value of $20,000 and an equal dollar amount of the stock I had in the portfolio at that time. I have made a few position changes since actually setting up the portfolio on Sept. 2. You can see the daily performance of the portfolio on my Income Portfolio page. A couple of notes about the portfolio.
- This is a hypothetical portfolio for informational purposes only. I may or may not personally hold stock positions similar to those in the portfolio. I disclose personal holding of any referenced stocks at the end of each of my articles.
- Stock trades in the portfolio are made at the average of the opening and closing price for the day of the trade. Trade commission is the flat $4.95 charged by Trade King.
- The cumulative portfolio percentage return on the portfolio widget is approximately 3 days old. This is the time frame currently for the Stockalicious performance calculations.
- The dollar value of the portfolio is the current value. Remember, starting value was $20,000 on 7/1/2008.
I have two portfolio tracking widgets on this site. By now you have probably taken a look at the Income Portfolio page and viewed what is offered. On the right sidebar you will see a box titled YTD Return of ETF Portfolio. This is a equal dollar weighted portfolio of 5 large ETFs and a starting value of $5,000. You can click on name of the portfolio, Indexes, and be linked to the Stockalicious page for the portfolio. Once there you can view the different pages of the portfolio such as Holdings, Transactions and Performance. I have set this portfolio up so the readers here can view the amount of information offered by the Stockalicious portfolio tracking. My Income Portfolio is currently closed to uninvited guests. At this point I am still making sure the portfolio tracks accurately and determining the criteria to allow guests to view the portfolio details.
My Opportunities Portfolio will start on the Stockalicious system at the beginning of the 4th quarter of 2008. Stock positions will be as I feel are appropriate at that moment and I expect a higher level of trading for that portfolio. Have a look at the portfolios I have started here and I hope these improvements help make this site more informative in the future.
Note: Portfolio and stock discussion on this site are for informational purposes only. I encourage anyone investing in stocks to do their own research and make their own conclusions.
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