Buy and Hold vs. Moving Average ETF Investing 12-17-10

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

Happy Holidays ETF Newsletter readers and Happy New Year!

Pretty flat week in the markets. The S&P was up just over a point and the Dow was up 85 points. However, for the last quarter of 2010, the markets were outstanding. The S&P 500 was up about 14%.

The buy and hold ETF investor lost about $40 in the balanced ETF portfolio. The moving average investor lost about $21 for the week in a similar portfolio.

Here's the weekly update:

	ETF Portfolio Value	% Gain
Buy and Hold	$16947.08	68.7
Moving Average	$12020.81	19.7

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