Buy and Hold vs. Moving Average ETF Investing 7-2-10

Buy and Hold vs. Moving Average ETF Investing
(most recent 12 weeks)

And so the slide continues. The S&P500 closed down about 55 points this past week and has now lost about 100 points for the past two. For the year, this index is down over 9%.

The buy and hold ETF investor lost about $727 in the balanced ETF portfolio. His total portfolio is now valued at $14,162 and the total gain is 41% since we starting tracking this portfolio in March of 2009.

The moving average ETF investor lost about $420 for the week. His portfolio is now valued at $10,422 (same balanced portfolio). He has gained 4% for the same time period.

Moving Average Update
Each week, the moving average investor compares the 50 day MA against the 200 day MA to see if he should sell (or buy) any of the 10 ETFs in the balanced ETF portfolio.

The iShares Barclays 1-3 Yr Credit Bond (CSJ)indicates a buy so the moving average investor will go long on this ETF again.

The Spyders is about to indicate a sell signal. We'll see what next week holds.

Invested:

SPDRs (SPY)
Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI)
iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM)
Vanguard SF REIT (VNQ)
Vanguard Emerging Markets (VWO)
iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond (AGG)
iShares Barclays TIP (TIP)
iShares Barclays 1-3 Yr Credit Bond (CSJ)

Not Invested:

Vanguard European Stock (VGK)
Vanguard Pacific ETF (VPL)