Buy and Hold vs. Moving Average ETF Investing 8-20-10

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

Although the markets were down this week, there were not down significantly. The Dow lost about 90 points and the S&P 500 was down about 6 points. The first 3 days of the week were up, but Thursday and Friday were down days. Most reports are that investors/traders are just not confident in the economy yet.

The buy and hold ETF investor lost about $43 in the balanced ETF portfolio. The moving average investor lost about $18 for the week in a similar portfolio.

Here's the weekly update:

	ETF Portfolio Value	% Gain
Buy and Hold	$14,885	48.2
Moving Average	$10,806	7.6

(Started in March 2009 with $10,000 in each portfolio)

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.

No changes required this week.

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)